


a million dreams

by braveatheart



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Marching Band, F/F, F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-09-14 17:43:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16917387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/braveatheart/pseuds/braveatheart
Summary: and we will come back home, and we will come back homehome againORThe high school band AU in which Kara and Lena fall in love before they know it's happening, and it's beautiful.Show is based around this piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SByoQiWwObA





	1. Chapter 1

Kara shivers against the cool evening air. The sun is low in the sky, stripes of pink and orange adorning the horizon before her. She hears the car click shut as Alex presses the button at least three times, and with a chuckle, she links her arm with her sister’s. Their other hands hang at their sides, a case held in either one. 

“You ready for this?” Alex asks, her voice muffled behind the red scarf she’s got wrapped tightly around her face and neck. Kara grins, excitement rushing to her chest as she watches several other people begin to funnel in the door. She can only nod, and Alex seems to understand. She smiles back and nods her head toward the door. With a grounding breath, they head inside.

Warm air greets them as soon as they open the door. People inside hiss at the sudden cold, and Kara mouths an apology before rushing to pull the door shut.

“Hold the door!”

Long, pale fingers slip in just in time to pull the door back open. The girl slips inside the building, huffing as she readjusts to the warmer air. Her cheeks are flushed a bright red, and the tip of nose matches. Her eyes, bright and deep green, meet Kara’s as she flashes a grateful smile.

“It’s frigid out there,” Lena observes, chuckling. Kara smiles back as Alex lets go of her arm, rushing to meet Sam where she anxiously waits down the hallway. Kara spares a glance her way, then turns her attention back to Lena. 

“I guess they program isn’t called ‘Winter Winds’ without reason,” she jokes, instantly grimacing at her terrible attempt at humor. She’s only spoken to Lena in passing when they happened to be placed next to each other in a set on the marching field, but hardly more than that. Of course Kara, in all her awkwardness, would choose to make a horrible pun in one of their first real conversations.

Whether out of pity or genuine amusement Kara doesn’t know, but Lena actually chuckles at her pun as she begins to take off her gloves and scarf. Kara feels something flutter in her chest. Though it’s not an unfamiliar feeling when she’s around the brunette woman, she brushes it off. The face of her watch tells her they’ve got just minutes to get into the band room and settled before rehearsal begins. Lena seems to note the time as well and she nods toward the band room. Kara holds her hand out to let Lena lead the way.

When they reach the band room, rows of chairs already set up in perfect lines, and most of them are full. There’s a few seats left in the row Alex and Sam sit in at the very front. Alex catches Kara’s eye and pats the seat next to her excitedly. 

“Want to sit with us?” Kara asks, turning to Lena. 

“Front and center,” Lena replies. The corner of her lip pulls up into a small smile, and Kara takes that as a yes. They take their seats while Director Jones continues to fiddle with the projector. He’s never been the greatest at technology, especially not the projector. He could get either the video or the audio to work, but never both. 

Kara silently counts in her head, waiting.

One… two…

“Winn!”

“Yep, coming!”

Kara chuckles. Winn Schott, the lead alto saxophonist who also happened to be a technical genius, was always the first person Director Jones called for when he couldn’t figure out the projector. At this point, Kara wonders why he doesn’t just have Winn do it in the first place. He’s always the one finishing the job anyway. 

Finally, after just ten seconds of Winn setting it up, the projector comes to life. On the projector screen is a video that looks similar to that of the drill videos they would watch for marching band. Instead of a green field, however, it’s simply a beige background with a white grid. Along the sides are letters at certain intervals. Kara figures that’s how they’ll figure out their positions on the tarp they’d be marching on. While marching band was on a football field, handily marked by yards already, marching on a tarp for their winter indoor show was an entirely different beast. Kara had only watched the year prior, listening all the while as Alex told her how amazing it was, and she decided this year she’d attempt it for herself.

“Alright, settle down,” Director Jones says, raising his voice just loud enough to be heard over the chatter of the room. Without having to ask twice, all conversations come to halt, and the room falls silent. That rush of excitement fills Kara’s chest once more, and she has to physically repress the squeal rising in her throat. Next to her, Alex snickers at her little sister’s childish delight. Kara gently elbows her in the side, but it’s of no use.

“Welcome to your first rehearsal of this year’s winter season,” Jones begins. “We have the entire show prepared, both in music and drill. This is a first for us, and we’re going to take advantage of it by diving right in tonight.”

Director Jones turns to his right and nods at James Olsen, the drum major who doubles as a tuba player during the off-season. James reaches down to a folder sitting on the ground beneath him. He pulls out a thick stack of paper, staff lines covered in black ink. Kara grins at the sight. She’d hoped the music would be more challenging than their previous field shows, and by the looks of the paper nearly covered in black, her wish came true.

As James begins sorting out everyone’s parts, names written at the top to note whose was whose, Jones walks over to the laptop and projector.

“I know you’ve been asking me for weeks what the show is, and I won’t hold the suspense any longer,” he says, a rare smile coming to his face. “I think you’ll enjoy it.”

This time, Kara can’t contain her excitement as a tiny squeal sneaks past her lips. Beside her, Lena bites her lip, clearly trying not to smile. Kara feels heat creeping into her cheeks at the sight.

Director Jones hits play on the laptop, and the screen fades to black as the video begins.

Within one bar of the music starting, the entire room erupts into cheers. Kara woops her approval along with her bandmates. Alex lets out a very loud “YES!” and Kara doesn’t try to stop the laugh that tumbles from her lips in response.

She knows they should be paying closer attention to the drill, but Kara finds herself singing along with the rest of the ensemble against her will. 

“Ladies and gents this is the moment you’ve waited for.”

“WOAH OH OH-OH-OH!”

This goes on for the entire seven minutes of the drill video, and surprisingly, Director Jones doesn’t attempt to stop them. He’d usually chastise them for not paying close enough attention to detail or not being serious enough, but for once, he lets them have their fun. 

Though she’s smiling and laughing with everyone else, Lena doesn’t sing along. Still, out of the corner of Kara’s eye, she sees the brunette’s gaze continue to drift from the screen to Kara herself. 

When the video comes to a close, James immediately begins passing around everyone’s parts. Director Jones fiddles with the projector for a few moments, but Winn is at his side turning everything off before the director can get very far. James snickers at his best friend as he hands Kara, Alex, Lena, and Sam their respective parts. Kara grins as she sees the part name at the top: first baritone.

Alex receives a snare part marked “center,” as expected. Lena, the lead trumpet player since her freshman year, is obviously placed on first trumpet. Sam happily takes second flute. Though she’s entirely capable of first flute, first part is always the one with solos. She specifically asks Director Jones not to be put on first. Much as he tries to convince her to take a solo, he respects her decision until she’s ready. As he’d always said, the second and third parts gave the ensemble depth, and he needed talented musicians on each level.

“Now that you’ve all got your parts,” Director Jones says over the rising chatter, “suit up.”

Kara snorts at the term, as she does every time. After three years of being under his direction, she knows that he means to get things around and be ready to rehearse, but it never fails to amuse her that he chooses to say  _ that  _ instead.

Not ten minutes later, the rows of chairs are gone, replaced instead by arcs of music stands and instruments poised. 

Jones steps up onto a chair so that everyone can see him. Without a word, he begins to count off.

xxx

No matter how many times it happens, Lena can never help the chills that cover her body when the band first plays a new piece. She’s blessed to be a part of an ensemble to in tune with musicality that there’s never a dull runthrough. Over the years, Director Jones has instilled in them that there is no such thing as going through the motions in his band. If you’re going to play, play with some feeling behind it. Make the music mean something.

When the downbeat hits and that wall of sound hits Lena’s ears, goosebumps immediately cover her body from head to toe. She closes her eyes as the woodwinds play for a few bars, simply relishing the sound. Though it’s been just weeks since the marching season came to a close, hearing the sound of a full band again feels like a breath of air she didn’t know she was holding.

When the first section comes to an end, Director Jones pauses for a moment. He doesn’t lower his hands, and no one dares lower theirs. Instead, they simply meet his eyes as he looks around the room. He takes a deep breath, and without asking, everyone follows. 

“Make it mean something,” he says simply. With that, he counts off slowly for the ballad.

Lena doesn’t play for a few bars, so she and the rest of the trumpets lower their arms to give them a short rest. Eve, the lead flute, plays a soft, soothing solo over the upper woodwinds. Only one bar before she’s meant to come in does Lena realize she too has a solo. She gulps, sudden nerves threatening to kick in, but shoves them back.

_ Boxes,  _ she thinks to herself, bringing her trumpet up to her lips.

She can hear the lyrics in her head as she plays. She’s only seen the film once, but she remembers the scene fondly. It was her favorite of the entire movie. It filled her with childlike wonder in a way she’d rarely felt, and she clung to the feeling for as long as it could last. Calm washes over her in waves as she remembers that feeling, letting it guide the ups and downs of the vibrato she adds to the melody.

As the section of the piece ends, Lena allows her arms to fall once again. She doesn’t play for another few measures. Director Jones counts off the next section, another slower piece, and Lena looks ahead to prepare herself for the rest of the piece.

She’s pulled out of her studies when she hears a beautiful, rich, warm sound from the arc behind her. For a moment, she wonders why there’s a concert baritone in a marching setting. She turns around for a moment to sneak a glance at the offender, and what she sees instead makes her heart stop for a moment.

Kara stands poised, her body in perfect form as she holds her silver King baritone to her lips. Her blue eyes, usually bright and excited, seem darker now - the color of the ocean beneath the setting sun. The bubbly, always-hyper blonde that Lena has seen all this time is calm and collected now as she plays the opening melody of “Never Enough.” There’s something… majestic about her, almost. In her Midvale Marching Stallions t-shirt and baggy grey sweatpants, she is majestic.

Lena can hardly focus for the rest of the night.

When they finally pack up and head home at 9 o’clock, she watches as Kara and Alex head out to Alex’s car. She wants to congratulate the blonde, tell her she played beautifully,  _ something -  _  but before she has a chance, Kara is waving at her and smiling as she gets into the car. Lena smiles back and gives a half-hearted wave. She watches them pull out and drive away, undoubtedly going home for a large dinner if she knows Kara at all. 

With a steadying breath, Lena heads toward her own car. There’s always tomorrow. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! It's currently about 5 am as I'm posting this, so please forgive it's not so great! I realize that this may seem a tad rushed, I'm just really excited to get into the heart of this story! I have so many ideas, but I may come back and edit so the exposition doesn't feel so rushed. Regardless, I hope you enjoy!

“Danvers, let’s go!”

Kara chuckles and rolls her eyes as she leans against the wall, attempting to use it to balance herself as she ties her tennis shoes. James pats her shoulder with a half-smile and jogs out into the hallway. Most of the ensemble is already there, waiting for the clock to strike six. Kara feels as though no time has passed at all between the previous night and this practice, but she’s not complaining. She’d been anxious to return to rehearsal all day, hardly able to sit still through her classes.

She’s about to head into the hallway when she feels a familiar hand slip into hers. Kara looks up to see Alex flash her a quick smile and a wink before heading off. When she releases Kara’s hand, there’s a necklace left behind in her palm.

To the average eye, it appears to be a regular dog-tag necklace. The chain is made of stainless steel like any other, but the dog-tag itself is quite unique. Its green tint comes from a low dose of synthetic Kryptonite; 18%, to be exact. Jeremiah created the necklace to protect her from accidentally exposing herself once she started participating in band. Kara’s sure it’s protected her more times than she knows, and she’s grateful that Alex remembered even when she didn’t. She slips the chain around her neck and beneath her shirt before making her way to the hallway in the nick of time.

Kara is about to join her sister and Sam at the front of the pack when someone else catches her eye. At the back of the group, Lena Luthor stands alone, her toned arms on full display in her tanktop as she reaches up to pull her hair into a high ponytail. Kara feels her breath hitch in her throat. She shakes her head slightly and ignores the sensation as she hesitantly walks toward the brunette.

“This is my least favorite part,” she says, attempting to catch Lena’s attention. Lena glances up, finished with her minstrations, and nods. She lets out a heavy sigh as she looks at the time. It’s 6:00 on the dot, giving them just seconds before they begin.

“I know we need it, but I really hate running.”

Kara chuckles, glad to know that her complaints are shared. She can run for miles without even feeling it, but with her abilities dampened, her fitness level is only somewhat above average compared to a typical high school student.

A shrill whistle rings out over the chatter, and the hallway immediately falls hush. Director Jones stands at the head of the ensemble, his arms crossed over his chest and his jaw set. To someone who didn’t know better, he looks rather intimidating. Kara knows that there’s nothing to be afraid of. All he wants is to make his band the best they can be, and that starts from day one.

“Good evening,” Jones calls out, his voice slightly raised. The band echoes his greeting back to him, albeit with less energy. He raises an eyebrow at the response.

“I hope you’ve got more energy than that,” he says. “You’re going to need it for the next half hour or so. Would anyone like to guess what we’re doing for the first part of today’s rehearsal?”

“Running?” comes an excited voice from the front. Kara nearly rolls her eyes, because of course Barry is excited about this. She bites back a smile as she sees Oliver smack his friend in the side.

“To start with. Then we’re going to work through a few rounds of pushups and planks. We don’t have access to the gym to start working on drill yet, so we’ll work on music for the rest of the night after that,” Jones says. Kara is secretly grateful that they can’t work on drill yet. With the Kryptonite necklace, she tires ten times faster than she would without it, and she’s certain that the running and strength training is going to wear her out rather quickly.

As Jones explains the route they’ll run through the hallways, Kara glances over at Lena. 

“Want a partner?”

Lena lets out a sigh and smiles. 

“I’ve been hoping you would ask. I’m a terrible runner and didn’t want to run alone.”

Kara laughs and agrees, turning her attention toward the front of the group. Jones starts to count down from ten and everyone focuses in, ready to begin the run.

“Race you?” Kara teases. She glances over at Lena, expecting the brunette to roll her eyes.

Instead, she’s met with a smirk and a cocked eyebrow that makes her heart flutter for a moment. Lena doesn’t say a word, but when Jones says go, she takes off faster than Kara expected. Grinning as her competitive nature kicks in, Kara sprints after her.

* * *

 

Though Lena hates to run for the most part, admittedly she isn’t as terrible as she claims to be. She and Kara are neck and neck as they return to the band room lobby, both of them panting as they try to catch their breath. They are two of the first girls to get back, and Lena feels a sense of pride surging over her at the realization. Leaning against her knees as she steadies herself, Lena holds up a hand toward Kara. Kara chuckles breathlessly and high-fives her.

Once everyone returns from the short run, Jones has them line up on the walls of the hallway, facing a partner of their choosing. With unspoken agreement, Lena and Kara split up so that they face each other. Alex stands next to Kara, sweat beading on her forehead, and Sam stands next to Lena. Lena gives a small, uncertain smile to the girl. She’s barely talked to her, and the only thing she knows about her is that she plays flute and she’s Alex’s girlfriend. Seeming to understand Lena’s apprehension, Sam simply gives a gentle smile back.

“You and your partner will each do 3 sets of 10 pushups and a 30 second plank. You can alternate between partners or do it at the same time, but however you do it, make sure you’re encouraging your partner,” Jones instructs. “We encourage each other in this band because we are what?”

“Stronger together,” Lena choruses back with the rest of the ensemble. It’s a motto that Jones has instilled in them just as much as “make it mean something.” No matter how many times she hears it, it always makes Lena smile. 

“Exactly,” Jones says simply. He looks down at his watch, then back up at the ensemble. “You may begin.”

“Okay,” Kara says immediately, pulling Lena’s attention back to the blonde. She’s already halfway into the pushup position, her knees resting on the ground as her upper body is poised and ready. Lena joins her on the ground, nerves creeping in. She’s never been strong, especially not in her upper body. She doesn’t want to make a fool out of herself.

“So, do you want to do our pushups at the same time, alternating…?” Kara asks, trailing off. 

“Stronger together, right?” Lena offers. She tries not to let her nervousness slip through, but she’s certain that Kara notices. She gives Lena a small smile and nods. 

“Together.”

Lena remains on her knees, allowing them to support some of her weight, and prepares for the first set of pushups. She doesn’t look up at Kara at first as they begin, counting out the reps in unison.

When she does look up towards the end, though, she feels as though she’s forgotten how to count to ten as her mind blanks at the sight in front of her.

Kara is doing full pushups in perfect form. Her body is tight and straight as a board. Lena watches the movement in her defined muscles as she lowers herself to the ground, her arms ending in perfect 90-degree angles, then pushes herself up with relative ease.

_ Oh, sweet God. _

“Lena, you okay?”

Lena is startled out of her thoughts when Kara speaks. She’s sitting on her heels now, wiping the sweat from her face as she looks concernedly back at Lena. The brunette gulps, her throat dry and scratchy, and nods. She doesn’t trust her voice at the moment.

“I think that was all of them,” Kara concludes. “Now just the plank and we’re done.”

Lena chuckles nervously, nodding. “I’m ready to be done.”

Kara grins and nods as she settles into the plank position. Realizing that she actually has to participate instead of ogling at the woman across from her, Lena drops to her hands and knees and waits for Kara to count down. On three, they begin to count their thirty seconds. All the while, Lena stares down at the tile beneath her, focusing instead on the marbled pattern so that she can tear her eyes away from the blonde.

* * *

 

The rest of rehearsal is spent on music. Instead of spending the entire evening in full ensemble, the brass, woodwinds, and percussion break off to do their own work for the majority of it. It is self-led for the most part, but Jones spends half an hour with each section to address any particular areas of concern. As per usual, he begins with the brass.

The first thing they do is run through the entire show as best they can to identify any problem areas. Kara flips open her binder, where she’s already arranged her music in clear page protectors for easy page-turns. She brings her baritone up to her lips as soon as she’s ready, not waiting for Jones to call them to set.

“Make it mean something,” he says, making eye contact with everyone in the room. Only after he’s certain he’s seen everyone’s eyes does he begin to conduct.

Immediately on the downbeat, that beautiful wall of sound that makes Kara love being a brass player fills her ears. The first song of the show is the opening number, “The Greatest Show.” As in the film, they stomp their feet in rhythm. Kara can imagine the echo of their feet stomping into the tarp, and she has to force back a smile as she plays the next string. 

When the main melody comes in the form of a trombone solo, Oliver Queen does not disappoint. His solo is already near perfect as he guides them into the next piece, the much slower ballad “A Million Dreams.”

The moment Lena comes in with her solo, Kara can’t help the way her eyes fall shut in bliss. She’s never heard a high school trumpet player with such a warm, clear sound. Lena plays with a beautiful vibrato that Kara can hear clearly even as she stands behind the brunette. When she opens her eyes, she can’t help the way they land on Lena, simply watching the way she moves ever so subtly with the music.

She nearly misses her entrance when the full band joins back in, but she luckily finds her place in the music. Her solo isn’t too far out, and she’d rather not deal with the glare Jones would give her if she missed her entrance. 

As she plays through her own solo, pouring as much emotion into as she can, her mind’s eye flashes back to the evening before. Just notes after she began, Lena had turned around and stared at her as she played. Kara had tried not to notice the brunette’s eyes on her, but she caught a glance of Lena’s face. Kara could only have described it as pure awe. It made her feel a pride she’s never felt before. Lena remains facing forward tonight, likely not wanting a glare from Jones either, but Kara channels that pride into her playing as the pace of the piece picks up.

The rest of the piece goes through without too many hitches. After “Never Enough,” they transition into “Rewrite the Stars.” Barry begins the piece with a mellophone solo for Zac Efron’s part, and Kara smiles to herself as she listens to her friend play. After “Rewrite the Stars” comes one of the most beautiful songs from the entire movie. It nearly brought Kara to tears the first time she ever heard it, as it resonated with her in ways that it might not with others. The beginning of “This is Me” is an alto saxophone solo by none other than Winn, but Jones hums through the solo in his absence. Finally, the piece ends with Kara’s ultimate favorite, the two-step anthem “From Now On.” There’s a part that’s meant to be sung at some point, one of the most powerful parts of the entire song. Jones has them play it for the moment, as he had the night before, much to Kara’s disappointment. Still, she pours as much emotion into it as she can. 

The remaining hour and a half of rehearsal is spent addressing the issues that came up in the runthroughs, first in sectionals and then as a full ensemble. When nine o’clock rolls around, Kara is beyond exhausted. She hasn’t taken off her necklace since the beginning of rehearsal, not wanting to have any unfair advantage over the rest of the ensemble. She almost relishes the exhaustion; it’s a reminder of the work she’s put in that evening, and it drives her to work just as hard the next day. During the marching season, she wore it nonstop for the majority of the season. She decides that she’ll likely do the same for the indoor season. The feeling of exhaustion at the end of a good rehearsal is one she doesn’t want to miss out on.

As Kara hoists her baritone into the her top-row locker, she feels a tentative tap on her shoulder. She quickly locks her locker, then spins around on her heels to see who’s trying to get her attention.

Lena gives a soft, tired smile as their eyes meet, and Kara feels that same rush in her chest as she had earlier. Determined to ignore it, she swallows hard and smiles back. Whatever that feeling is, she’ll deal with it later.

“So,” Lena begins, “given that we’re doing a show based on a movie, I figure we should probably know the movie pretty well.”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good assessment,” Kara says, smiling. She has an inkling of where this might be going, but she tries not to get too far ahead of herself. 

“Since we don’t have practice again until Thursday, I was thinking maybe a group of us could watch the movie and eat pizza together tomorrow at my place? You, me, Alex, Sam, Oliver and Barry, James and Winn? My mother and brother won’t be home.”

Kara’s grin grows wider as her hopes are confirmed. From behind Lena, Kara sees Alex and Sam perk up at the sounds of their names. They finish putting their instruments away and walk over, eyebrows raised in inquiry.

“What about all of us?” Alex asks.

“Lena invited us to her place to watch the movie,” Kara says, grinning all too widely. She tries to suppress the excitedness in her voice, but it is to no avail.

“Y’know…. For comprehension,” Lena says, and Alex gives a small knowing smile. 

“I was going to suggest the same thing, but you beat me to it. Movie night at your place it is then, Luthor,” Alex says. She takes her keys out of her coat pocket and holds them up to Kara; their universal symbol for “I’ll be in the car.” Kara nods, trying to bite back the ridiculously wide grin still on her face, and watches as Alex and Sam make their way out of the locker room.

“This isn’t weird, is it?” Lena asks, her smile faltering. “I mean, we’ve barely talked, but you’ve been so kind the last few days and I rarely get to have anyone over and -”

“Lena,” Kara says simply, chuckling. It’s strange to see the usually put-together woman ramble like she herself would, but it’s rather endearing. Kara places a hand on Lena’s shoulder and smiles. She watches as some of the tension visibly leaves Lena’s body as the brunette lets out a sigh.

“I’m sure we’d all love to,” Kara reassures, making a note to text the groupchat. “It’s not weird at all.”

Lena doesn’t say anything back to that. She simply nods and takes a deep breath, seeming to quell her worries. 

“Now,” Kara begins, pulling her favorite hoodie over her head, “I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted. Wanna head out?”

Lena nods and stifles a yawn, almost as if on cue. She zips up her thick black coat, and with that, the two of them head toward the parking lot.

* * *

**Kara Zor-El:** so... lena luthor invited all of us over to watch the greatest showman at her place tomorrow. she says her mom and brother won't be home. yall down?

 **Ollie:** lena luthor?? since when are you two friends??

 **Alex:** since kara stopped making heart eyes and actually opened her mouth

 **Alex's Girlfriend:** aLEX

 **Speedster:** will there be food

 **Kara Zor-El:** alex shut up???

 **Kara Zor-El:** yes barry there will be food

 **Speedster:** i'm down

 **Ollie:** i'm with stupid

 **Speedster:** -_-

 **Jimmy:** i'm in

 **Winslow:** i love this movie i am READY

 **Kara Zor-El:** awesome! i'll tell lena we'll be there :)

 **Alex:** i'm sure you will

 **Alex's Girlfriend:** ALEXANDRA

 **Kara Zor-El:** OH HEY WOW LOOK AT THE TIME GOODNIGHTTTTT

* * *

Kara chuckles to herself as she places her phone on the bedside table, tiredness creeping in more so than usual. Her necklace still hangs around her neck under her shirt, and the tiredness that comes with it will take getting used to again. With her eyelids feeling heavier by the minute, Kara allows them to fall shut, ready for sleep to take her in.

She's almost asleep when she hears a faint buzzing from the bedside table. She nearly ignores it, figuring one of her friends have replied. Still, even in her tired state, curiosity wins out and she checks the message.

* * *

 **Unknown Number:** Hey, this is Lena. I found your number on the band roster... I hope that's not weird. Anyway. My mother and brother will be gone by 5 tomorrow, so you and your friends are welcome to come over anytime after then. 

 **Kara Danvers:** Hey Lena! That's not weird lol, I do that too! We'll be over around 5 tomorrow then :) and you might as well think of them as your friends too... after tomorrow you'll be stuck with us :P

 **Lena :) :** Perhaps that isn't such a bad thing :) Goodnight, Kara.

 **Kara Danvers:** gooodnight, lena :)

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments so far, and feedback is always appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

Lena stares down at her watch. The second hand ticks by slowly, almost mocking her. She sits on the black leather couch in the massive living room. In the room over, she hears Lex and her mother discussing their plans for the next few days. There’s a science convention in Metropolis for the next few days, and Lillian had decided to pull Lex out of school to take him. He would learn more there, she suggested, than while sitting in the classrooms of his prestigious private school.

She hadn’t even asked if Lena was interested, even though Lena was just as intelligent and interested in science as her brother.

As 4:45 rolls around, Lena begins to get nervous that her mother and brother wouldn’t be gone before the group she had invited over would arrive. If she knows anything about Kara, she’s going to be there at least five minutes early. In reality, she could show up anytime. The thought of a whole group of her peers arriving while her mother and Lex were still home makes Lena’s heart race faster than it already was.

Lena hadn’t exactly told her mother her plans to have people over. Friends for the sake of friendship didn’t get you anywhere in life, Lillian had always said. Lena keeps her few friendships to herself now. She isn’t even certain she can call anyone in her life a true friend; the decision to invite acquaintances to her home was made in a state of exhaustion, and now she’s wondering if she made a mistake. She hardly knows any of them, after all. She doesn’t know what overcame her when she asked for them to come over, but something about Kara’s smile just made Lena want to see it again and again.

“Lena, we’re leaving,” Lillian calls suddenly from the kitchen, startling Lena from her worries. She opens her mouth to call out a half-hearted goodbye, but the door leading to the garage clicks shut before she has a chance to get a word out. The sound makes Lena’s chest ache suddenly, and she swallows hard in an attempt to rid herself of the feeling. She’s got to entertain, after all, and a girl with mommy issues certainly isn’t what her guests need to deal with.

With Lex and Lillian gone, Lena checks the time. The grandfather clock in the corner reads 4:50. She deduces that she has at least five minutes to get the living room looking less sterile and more homely. She hopes that her peers and the pizza delivery won’t arrive in the time it takes her to go to her room and bring down every pillow and blanket she can find.

Luck seems to be on her side, as the moment she finishes arranging the pillows and blankets in the most inviting way she can think of, the doorbell rings.

When she opens the front door, Kara and all of her friends are standing on her front steps, the five pizzas that must’ve been delivered moments before all dispersed amongst the group. Lena immediately meets Kara’s eyes, and they both smile at the contact.

“Nice place,” Oliver says, his eyes scanning the front of the house. Lena offers a nervous half-smile in his direction, nodding.

“Perks of rich parents, I guess,” she says. Oliver smirks. He’s certainly no stranger to the wealthy life; the Queen company makes ungodly amounts of money, and she’s seen the Queen house. It’s massive, even bigger than her own - something Lena didn’t know was possible.

“Well, the rest of us plebeians offer drinks and junk food,” Kara teases, holding up two Walmart bags of her own, followed by Alex and Barry holding up four more. Lena can’t tell all of their contents, but she sees Gatorades, chips, and candy for sure. Lena eyes the blue Gatorade, her favorite flavor, and hopes there will be one left for her. She doesn’t get to have treats like this very often, and she intends to savor it while it lasts.

Lena stands aside and gestures inside the house. “Welcome to my humble abode.”

“Humble,” Winn scoffs jokingly, offering a smile. Lena is grateful for his small act of reassurance. Her fear of being surrounded by peers she hardly knows begins to diminish, even if only slightly, as she closes the front door behind them.

“So,” she begins, watching as the group surveys her home in awe, “I’d suggest putting all of the food on the coffee table, but I’m not sure it’s going to fit, so we can put the pizza on the dining room table for sure.”

Those holding pizzas head toward the dining room to set them down, whereas everyone else deposits the drinks and snacks on the coffee table. It barely fits, but it’ll do.

As Lena heads into the kitchen to grab the paper plates, plastic silverware, and plastic cups that she’d hidden from her mother’s view, the fear gripping her chest is replaced by something else. She’s still terrified, but seeing these people coming into her home without judging her despite hardly knowing her makes Lena feel excited. She tries to recall the last time she had a friend over, let alone a group of friends. She comes up empty.

“Need any help with that?”

The chatter in the living room is loud enough that Lena almost doesn’t hear her. She turns around to see Kara walking up to the dining room table, gesturing toward the array of disposables yet to be opened and set out. Seeing her walking her way, she notices the blonde’s outfit for the first time. She has shed her winter coat and shoes, left wearing only a loose white v-neck t-shirt and baggy grey sweatpants. As usual, her hair is pulled into a ponytail, but it’s looser than she normally keeps it. Lena glances down at Kara’s socks and chuckles at the Captain America shield on them.

“Don’t laugh at my socks!” Kara says, chuckling herself as she approaches Lena. She adjusts her glasses and glances down, a tint of red in her cheeks. Lena has to bite the inside of her cheek to stop from grinning ear to ear at the sight. She’s had to do that a lot lately, and she’s not sure why it’s only just started recently.

“I would certainly appreciate the help,” she finally says, handing Kara a few packages to open. They get to work, and within a few comfortably silent minutes, the dining room table is an assembly line ready to be set in motion.

“Children, pizza’s ready!” Kara yells into the living room. Lena laughs as she hears scrambling feet against the hardwood floor, all racing to get to the pizza first. ‘Children’  is an apt descriptor of the group, Lena realizes.

Once everyone has what they want for the first round of pizza, they head into the living room. When Lillian and Lionel had the house designed, they purposely left the living room as one of the smaller rooms in the house. The biggest rooms were the offices and the small lab tucked away in the back of the house. Lena had always thought that the sizes of the rooms spoke a thousand words about the Luthor view on family. Family was minimized in favor of work.

Given that the living room was smaller, it didn’t quite give much room to live. The room held only a large television and its accompaniments, a grandfather clock, a rocking chair, and a long couch with cupholders in the middle. The sides of the couch on either side of the cupholders both had footrests like the recliner, though each spot was not a lot bigger than the actual recliner. It was great for seating four people at a comfortable distance, but not so for more than that.

As she realizes that there won’t be places on the couch for everyone to sit, the anxiety from before begins to creep back into Lena’s chest.

“I know it’s not a very big room, and there’s not a lot of space,” she begins, trying to quickly think of a way for everyone to be comfortable for the movie. Alex and Sam could share the recliner; it was a large leather recliner and they’re both small people. That left herself, Kara, James, Winn, Barry, and Oliver to try to squeeze onto the reclining couch. There were also only three blankets and four pillows to share among them.

 _Stupid,_ Lena mutters to herself, her good mood quickly fading. _This house isn’t built for friends to come over. You don’t even have enough space for people to sit down._

Thousands of thoughts race through Lena’s mind as she tries to figure out what to do, but Oliver and Alex both start to head toward the door before she can say a word. Her heart drops as they begin to leave.

Wordlessly, Oliver holds up a finger with a tiny smile. He and Alex walk out, and Lena swallows hard. It wouldn’t make sense for Oliver to signal for her to wait if he was going to just leave, but the fear still makes it hard for Lena to breathe.

When the door opens about three minutes later, Oliver and Alex walk back inside, cheeks and noses rosy from the cold winter air. Alex carries a massive ball of blankets, and Oliver is holding two beanbags.

“We had a get-together recently and didn’t clean out our cars,” Oliver explains. Lena lets out a sigh of relief and smiles, feeling the tension begin to leave her body. Next to her, Kara gently places her hand on her shoulder. It’s only for a moment, then it’s gone. Still, Lena can’t move for a moment as she relishes in how _warm_ Kara’s touch is.

Barry and Oliver take the beanbags and two of their own blankets and make themselves comfortable on the floor behind the coffee table.

“It’s closer to the food,” Barry says, and the entire group collectively groans. Lena grins and makes a note to herself that Barry likes food. She figures that if she has any chance at making real friends with these people, she should probably try to remember what she learns about them.

After about five minutes of rearranging and playful arguing about where people will sit, they finally settle on locations. Alex and Sam take the recliner after Lena’s insistence, and they share one of the blankets Alex brought in. James, Winn, Lena, and Kara all sit on the reclining couch. They actually have a decent amount of room with Oliver and Barry on the floor, but they’re still far closer than Lex or Lillian would ever sit. Lena sits on the end of the couch furthest from the televison, remote in hand. She wants to allow her guests to sit closest. James and Winn immediately claim the other side of the couch. They sit closely, but with enough room to move freely.

“Is this seat taken?” Kara asks as she walks up to the space next to Lena, nodding in the direction of it. Lena’s heart skips a beat as she realizes that Kara is asking to sit next to her, right next to her. She pauses for a moment, and Kara immediately begins to backtrack.

“I know there’s not a ton of space, and I can totally sit on the floor, I’ve got this really big and fluffy blanket you brought down so I -”

“Kara, sit down,” Lena says softly, offering a small smile. Carefully, so as not to spill her pizza, she sits in the space next to Lena. There’s only a few inches between them, just like Winn and James. Only a few inches between them touching. Lena takes a steadying breath and tries to give Kara as much room as she can. She holds Kara’s pizza as she spreads out the blanket. To Lena’s surprise, the blonde drapes the blanket over them both, looking to Lena for confirmation that it’s okay. Though her heart thuds at the intimacy of sharing a blanket, Lena immediately nods and hands Kara her pizza back. Kara finds the button that reclines the touch and presses it, giggling when it begins to whir mechanically as it slowly reclines.

“Okay, now that is cool,” Winn says, pressing the button on his side as well. He grins as the same mechanical whir comes from his side until the footrests are extended. Alex and Sam sit in a regular recliner with a lever, and Alex reaches over and pulls it so that their feet are up as well.

Willing her hands to stop shaking, Lena reaches over and grabs the remote.

“This is gonna be really cheesy isn’t it?” Oliver asks, looking over at Winn.

“The cheesiest, and it’s amazing,” Winn confirms. Next to him, James chuckles as the movie begins.

* * *

 

The first time Lena saw “The Greatest Showman,” she was alone in her room at one in the morning because she couldn’t sleep. Though she wore headphones, the volume was low so that there was no risk that Lillian could hear her. She quickly rented the first movie she saw on Vudu and hoped that whatever it was could help her relax. She truly had enjoyed the movie and appreciated its messages, but didn’t find it to be as powerful as everyone claimed it to be.

Now, she understands where she went wrong.

The volume on the television slowly increases throughout the first parts of the movie for one reason another until Lena swears she can feel the music in her chest. She prays her wealthy neighbors won’t file a noise complaint, because surely they can hear the booming music from outside.

Much to her surprise, the singing had begun with the very first song. Most of the people, even Oliver, knew the words to the opening number. Lena even knew half of them, but she couldn’t bring herself to sing along. Instead, she listened as the people around her ended up singing at the top of their lungs by the end of the song. Her ears hurt from Kara belting the top notes, but my God, did she sound amazing while she did.

As the opening number faded into scenes without music, Kara settled back down into her seat, finally taking a few bites of her pizza. Lena tentatively bites into her own. Kara looks over at her, her mouth full so that her cheeks are puffed out, and smiles as best she can. Lena almost chokes on her laughter at the sight, but she doesn’t. Kara finally swallows and flashes a real smile. There’s something warm in her smile that makes Lena’s chest feel...full? Warm? All of the above?

Whatever it is, it is good. Good and new.

They continue to watch the movie, fairly silent when there wasn’t music save for the occasional commentary and jokes. Winn is great at commentary, Lena quickly realizes. She can’t quite seem to stop smiling as she listens to him go back and forth with various members of the group. She should be watching the movie, but she can’t help the way she finds herself observing them all. The teasing comments with affection underneath them, the effortless communication, the small touches that are just so _normal_ between them… it’s everything Lena has ever wanted in a friendship, and yet never experienced for herself. As she watches the way her peers interact, in her own living room, curled up with blankets watching a movie at 6 o’clock on a weeknight, Lena feels the slightest sliver of hope that she might one day be a part of it all.

She feels a gentle nudge to her side, jolting her out of her thoughts. Kara looks over at her, the film momentarily forgotten, her eyebrows furrowed in concern.

“You okay? You look spaced out,” she observes quietly, so as not to draw any attention from the others. She pulls the blanket, which had slipped lower as Kara danced in her seat, back up and over their shoulders.

“This is just…” Lena begins, trying to find the words to articulate what she’s feeling. She searches for a few moments, mouth moving as if to form words, but she can’t quite find the right ones.

“I know we’re a lot, and kind of obnoxious,” Kara says, sounding slightly defeated as she glances down at her lap.

“No, not at all,” Lena says quickly, her hand involuntarily reaching to touch Kara’s arm beneath the blanket. She freezes as she realizes what she’s done and jerks her hand backward.

“Sorry, I didn’t… didn’t mean to do that,” she mutters, shifting uncomfortably. She waits for Kara to stand up and sit by Alex, leaving her alone in the couch seat.

Instead, she feels soft skin against her own as Kara scoots right up next to her. She doesn’t do anything else. She doesn’t lean her head against Lena, doesn’t hold her hand, doesn’t even speak - she simply sits there, sides pressed together beneath the fuzzy blanket from Lena’s bed, and gives a small smile that lingers for a moment. Then, she returns her attention to the movie.

Lena tries not to show how the contact makes her melt and instead turns her attention back to the movie as well.

When Hugh Jackman confronts Zac Efron in the bar about joining the show, Winn and Barry immediately jump out of their seats and in front of the coffee table. Lena watches in awe and amusement as they duet “The Other Side,” their voices in perfect harmony with each other and the actors on-screen. They dance around the room dramatically, cheers-ing their Gatorades as if they were shots of whiskey, and Lena finds herself laughing along with Kara. She doesn’t remember the last time she truly laughed, but she realizes quickly how much she’s been missing.

The rest of the movie is more of the same. She watches on as the group of kids in her living room sing, dance, joke, and touch shamelessly and effortlessly. At first they only interact with each other, but soon enough, they’re actively reaching out to Lena, too. Oliver starts looking to Lena to back him up about how cheesy some of the movie is. Barry pulls her out of the seat and tries to get her to dance with the rest of them during “Rewrite the Stars,” singing to her with all the drama he can muster all the while. Even James waltzes with her to “Tightrope,” but Kara steals her away from him and finishes out the song.

Lena swears she’s never felt happier as they danced around her living room, hand in hand, dancing terribly while everyone around them did the same. Kara throws her head back and laughs as they all bump into each other in the small space, and Lena swears she’d do anything to hear that sound over and over again.

By the time “From Now On” and “The Greatest Show” play toward the end of the movie, Lena is singing and dancing with them like she never has in her life. It’s foreign and thoughtless and free, and it’s terrifying. She tries not to think about it as she simply enjoys it while it lasts.

The movie ends far too soon for Lena’s liking. It’s a beautiful, tender ending that makes her heart ache in the best way. She feels her eyes burning as the final quote appears on the screen, but she blinks back the feeling before the tears can well. Kara hurriedly wipes her eyes on her shirt, and as she looks at Lena with teary eyes and that warm smile, all Lena wants to do is pull her into her arms.

 _Jeez, Lena,_ she thinks to herself, her smile faltering, _you hang out with her for two hours and suddenly you’re all over her._

As people begin to get up and stretch, she shakes the thought from her head, deciding she’ll deal with it another time. Now, she has to make sure the living room is pristine as it was before they all arrived.

With the help of the others, everything looks exactly as it did before they arrived, and the blankets are folded and sitting in the recliner. Barry and James help take trash out to the trash cans in the shed while Sam and Oliver pack up the snacks that didn’t get eaten. Lena snags a blue Gatorade, looking away sheepishly as Oliver flashes her a knowing grin. He leaves a second one on the coffee table, and Lena feels that same rush that’s been hitting her all night.

“We should definitely do this again,” Sam says out of the blue as they finish packing and cleaning. Murmurs of agreement chorus around the room, and Lena smiles from ear to ear.

“Who knew that miss Lena Luthor actually knew how to have fun?” James teases.

“Don’t tell anyone,” Lena replies, trying her hand at friendly banter. It seems to work, as James winks back and zips his lips shut.

They all begin their goodbyes and head out to their respective cars, Lena’s excitement and happiness about having actually had friends over never leaving her. Alex, Sam, and Kara are the only ones left within a few minutes.

“Thank you guys for coming, truly,” Lena says as they head toward the door. Alex flashes a warm smile back at her and nods.

“I’m really glad we came. You’re not as uppity as it seemed,” Alex says. Kara smacks her on the arm, whispering her sister’s name under her breath. Alex widens her eyes in confusion at the sudden assault.

“No, no, it’s all good,” Lena says, chuckling. “I know what you mean, and I appreciate it.”

“See? She knows what I mean,” Alex says, smacking Kara back. Kara winces and rubs at her shoulder. Alex playfully rolls her eyes and gives one last wave before heading for the door.

“I promise she likes you,” Sam whispers once Alex is mostly out of range. She smiles and waves as she hurries to catch up with her girlfriend, immediately linking their fingers once she does. Lena smiles ever so slightly at the sight.

Now, it’s only her and Kara left in the living room. Kara slowly puts on her red Converse, then drapes her winter coat over her arm.

“Well,” Lena begins, feeling disappointment creep in as she realizes that she’s going to be alone for the rest of the night. “I’m sure Alex is waiting for you, so I won’t keep you long.”

“Oh, actually I - I drove separate today, Alex and Sam went to a study group before this,” Kara says, stumbling over her words. She fidgets with her glasses for the umpteenth time that evening and glances at the ground.

“Oh, okay,” Lena says simply. She knows she should say something more, anything more, but her words fail her. Instead, she simply leans against the doorframe and closes the door, not wanting her mother to be upset about the heating bill spiking.

“I had a really, really great time tonight,” Kara says as she leans against the opposite side of the doorframe. She crosses her arms over her chest, goosebumps covering her skin from the cold air that had rushed in as the door shut. Even still, she doesn’t make a move to put on her jacket.

“Me too,” Lena admits, offering a small smile. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”

“Had a party while your parents weren’t home?” Kara asks, grinning.

Lena pauses for a moment, debating whether she should just smile and agree or say what she really meant.

“Hung out with people like this,” Lena corrects, ultimately deciding on the latter. “I don’t… I don’t even hang out with people much when my mother is home.”

Lena sees something flash in Kara’s eyes, but she can’t quite decipher what it is. If she didn’t know any better, she might guess that it was sadness or pity.

“Well throw that out the window because they really liked you,” Kara says, stepping forward. The distance between them is shorter now, and Lena feels that urge to reach out and feel the warmth of Kara’s skin.

“I really liked them too,” Lena says. “I really like you.”

The words tumble out before she can stop them, and again, Lena feels herself wanting to retreat. She starts to push herself off the doorframe and step away from Kara, but she doesn’t get the chance.

The next thing she knows, strong, warm arms are wrapping around her. One arm wraps around her shoulders while the other wraps around her back, and Kara pulls Lena into the tightest hug anyone has ever given her. When Lena finally processes what’s happening, she tentatively reaches up and wraps her arms around Kara as well. She can’t stop thinking about how warm she is.

“I really like you too, Lena Luthor,” Kara says softly, her voice dropping into a low, caring tone that Lena has never heard before. Her eyes begin to burn suddenly, and she blinks the unexpected sensation away. She doesn’t want to scare Kara off by crying over a simple hug.

They remain in their embrace for at least half a minute, neither of them saying a word or moving. They simply stay there, bodies warm and close, listening to the sound of the other’s breathing.

Kara finally pulls away, though she seems reluctant. Lena immediately misses her touch, but she tries to shut down the thought as quickly as possible. She can’t go down that road. She can’t need this, she can’t get too dependent on that feeling.

Lena clears her throat and steps backward as Kara finally pulls on her coat.

“Be safe driving home, okay?” she says, shoving her hands in the front pockets of her jeans. Kara smiles softly and nods, her eyes never leaving Lena’s as she finishes pulling on her coat. They maintain their gaze for a little while longer until finally Kara reaches toward the door.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Lena,” Kara says as she stands on the steps, the wind blowing her blonde hair in her face. She doesn’t seem bothered by it, though, and simply waits for Lena to respond.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Kara,” Lena replies. With one more sweet smile, Kara finally turns away and heads to her car. Lena watches as she pulls away though the cold air nips at her extremities. She stays there the headlights of Kara’s Jeep are no longer visible as they disappear into the night horizon. Only then does she go inside and close the door behind her.

Ten minutes later as she’s putting away all of the blankets and pillows, returning the one she and Kara shared to her full-size bed, she feels her phone buzz in the pocket of her jeans.

* * *

 **Kara Danvers:** Made it home safe :)

 **Lena Luthor:** That's good to hear.. thank you for letting me know.

 **Kara :) :** Of course. Have a good night, Lena :)

 **Lena Luthor:** Have a good night as well, Kara :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I just wanted to say a quick thank you to those who are enjoying this work and commenting. Feedback always makes my day, so please feel free to drop a comment if you'd like!

A lot changes in the few short weeks between the night they watch the movie and the last day of learning drill for the show. Kara’s group of friends goes from seven to eight almost effortlessly. Kara realizes that it had always felt like someone was missing from their group. Everyone else had seemed to have a pair, a partner. There was Alex and Sam, James and Winn, Oliver and Barry… yet Kara didn’t quite have her “and.” Sure, she had Alex, but Alex was her sister. Kara hadn’t quite found her other partner yet like the rest seemed to, and while there was no shortage of love to go around amongst the seven of them, she’d been wishing that she’d find her “and” one day, too.

Then, Lena came around.

She becomes the eighth member of their group as soon as they all leave her house that night. Their entire dynamic had changed in just those few hours, and suddenly Lena is just… a part of them, as a given. Every dinner they go out to before practice, she’s there. Every endeavor they partake in on their free nights, she’s there. Hell, every time they play the show music together outside of practice, she’s there too. She never invites herself, nor assumes that she’s inherently invited - it takes confirmation from everyone that she’s welcome and wanted. Kara hopes that one day, Lena will realize that she’s always included. Kara’s heart aches as she realizes that Lena has probably never had a group of friends like this in her life, and she doesn’t seem to know how to operate in them.

She knows how to operate with Kara, though.

For the first time, Kara finds her “and.” She finally has the partner that everyone else has always seemed to naturally have, and that emptiness is filled.When they go to anyone’s house, it’s Lena that she sits next to. When they go out to dinner, it’s Lena that she sits next to. When they practice together, it’s Lena that she stands next to in their circle. 

They even begin to spend time on their own separate from the group occasionally, like the other pairs do. They meet for lunches on the weekends while their parents are busy, or see a movie on a free Friday night. Their conversation never seems to run dry, yet they can sit together in comfortable silence and simply enjoy each other’s company. It is easy and warm and Kara feels like they’ve been doing this all their lives, even though it’s hardly been a month. She’s never felt anything like it. She doesn’t know what she feels, but all she knows is that she doesn’t want it to end.

Much to both of their delight, they have a few sets that are nearby in the drill, despite them being in different sections. In the past weeks, they’ve learned all of the drill up to the last half of the final movement, set to the song “From Now On.” They’ve also put it all to music, though not all of it sounds good. Kara always feels nervous at the beginning of the season when it doesn’t all come together perfectly, but Alex always reminds her that it works out in time. 

On this particular Thursday night, they’re learning the final bit of drill. Their first competition is just two weeks away. Though it will take a lot to have the full show ready to present at the first show, they hope that two weeks will be enough to get there. Director Jones keeps telling them not to get their hopes up, but Kara can’t help her excitement at the idea. They’ve never gotten to present a full show on the first week for marching band or indoor, but they’ve never had the drill this early, either. She decides that she’ll just do her part and wait to see, but the thought remains in the back of her mind.

“Alright,” Director Jones calls out over his microphone. The gym falls silent as everyone immediately goes to their spots for the last few sets of drill. Kara holds her drill sheet, battered from shoving into her pocket hurriedly so as not to miss the step off, and finds her place next to Oliver. They ended drill on Tuesday in a company front, where the entire floor ensemble is in one long line from one end of the tarp to the other. It’s a tight squeeze that barely fits, but it works. 

“Let’s actually go back and run from the beginning of the movement up to this point as review, alright?” Jones says. Wordlessly, they reset to the beginning of the movement. To Kara’s delight, she’s standing between Lena and Barry for this particular set.

“Hi,” Kara says quietly to Lena, who stands on her right. Lena gives her a small smile and mouths a “hello” back as she brings her arms up to playing position. From the corner of her eye, Kara sees Barry biting back a grin. Quickly checking to make sure her bracelet is still fastened, she swiftly kicks him in the back of the leg. He doesn’t even flinch, and instead simply chuckles as Jones begins his count off.

The review goes as smoothly as can be expected. It isn’t perfect by any means, and Kara definitely bumps into people a few times. Still, they manage to get from point A to point B without any major disasters, and she considers that a win for the evening.

“That… wasn’t a trainwreck, so I’ll take it,” Jones says into the microphone once they come to a stop. Kara chuckles as she lowers her arms. She shakes out the small burn in them and grabs for her drill sheet. 

“Now, you can see that we have a long hold here,” Jones begins, “but we’ll get to that later. Right now, I want to work through the last couple of sets and get those under our feet. Sound good?”

“Yes sir,” the band replies on instinct. Jones offers a small, almost proud smile, then motions for everyone to find their spots.

The next half hour is spent finding and correcting the final three forms. Their final set sees them standing in groups of three or four, spread out across the tarp. Three people stand front and center in a horizontal line, clearly separate from the group. 

Kara thinks back to her music and tries to place where they are, and it suddenly clicks. The show ends with the soft trio at the end of “From Now On.” From what she’s seen in Winn and Sam’s music, she thought that the flute, clarinet, and saxophone sections were playing together as one woodwind ensemble. As she sees Sam, Winn, and Lorelai the clarinet player standing in that line, she begins to think that her assumptions were incorrect. Even from her pod with Lena and Alex ten feet away, she can see Sam shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other. 

“I think Sam is going to have a solo,” Kara whispers to Alex, who’s watching her girlfriend intently. 

“She’s gonna freak,” Alex replies, a worried sigh escaping her lips. 

“She has the talent by all means,” Lena says, her voice low. “We all see that.”

“She’ll be okay, Alex,” Kara reassures, noticing the way her sister’s concern is ever-growing. She places a hand on the small of Alex’s back for a moment, and it seems to help her sister relax. She’s protective over Sam, and Kara knows she’s worried about her girlfriend being placed front and center despite her fear of being there.

They practice the last few movements a few time to get the transitions smoother, then go back to put the entire movement together. While their hold will be longer once the music is added, they hold for just eight counts in the company front before continuing. It’s not great, but it’s comprehensive enough for an audience member or judge to understand what’s meant to be going on.

Once they finish the run, everyone instinctively heads toward their instruments on the sidelines to start putting the movement to music. Jones holds up his hand and stops them, however, and gestures for them to return to the tarp. Confused, Kara takes her place next to Oliver and glances over at him. He shrugs in response and looks up to Jones for an explanation.

“While I’m sure you’ve figured this out, this hold is where the singing part comes in,” Jones explains. “Before we add instruments, I want to see where we are on this part.”

Kara nearly squeals with excitement. She’s been waiting for them to finally start singing this part instead of playing it for weeks.

“Ultimately, I want to be split into harmonies. For now, we’ll just stick with the main melody. 

Count off ones and twos down the line, alternating. Ones will be the ‘come back home’ melody, and twos will be ‘from now on.’ Does that make sense?”

The band choruses their affirmations. The counting begins on the left end of the line, and Kara is delighted when she is given a one. Both melodies are beautiful and powerful when put together, but she favors the “come back home” melody for its energy. 

“I want to see feeling,” Jones says into the microphone. He allows his words to reverberate in the echoey gym for a few moments, then begins to count off.

They run it seven or eight times, and by the final time they run it, Kara’s throat is dry and scratchy. While each run is better than the last, it’s just missing… something. Kara can’t quite identify what it is, but it doesn’t have the power that it does in the film. 

“I’m going to let you out early tonight after we do a few runthroughs of this movement with music, then a full run,” Jones says. Kara scans his face for any sign of anger, but she finds none. It’s rare for him to let them out early unless he feels the rehearsal isn’t going anywhere, and even that is a very rare occasion. This time, though, he seems to genuinely be letting them leave early with no rhyme or reason. It’s been a long road trying to put everything together; perhaps he’s offering them a break after the work they’ve put in.

“What I want you to think about as you get your instruments is this,” Jones says, gesturing toward the sidelines where their instruments await them. They head toward them, making as little sound as possible so as not to drown out his words. 

“What is home for you? What can you connect coming home to?”

Kara doesn’t expect the way the words feel like a punch in the chest, but they do. Distant memories flash through her mind. Her mother and father, that tiny dropship, the oranges and reds flying past her, the rumble beneath her feet as Krypton unravelled. She tries not to think about that day too often, but every now and then, something will take her by surprise and send her back. 

As she gets into position between Barry and Lena, she tries not to let her familiar panic show through. The last thing she wants is for Lena to start asking questions that she can’t answer.

“Yknow, I think I finally know what home feels like,” Lena says, pulling Kara from her thoughts. The blonde glances up, quickly adjusting her glasses from where they’ve slid down her nose, and meets Lena’s deep green eyes. 

“And what does it feel like?” Barry asks softly from Kara’s other side. A small, soft smile graces Lena’s face, and suddenly the panic begins to ebb. 

“It’s dancing around your living room on a Wednesday evening with people who make a house feel like a home for the first time.”

The grip of panic releases its hold on Kara’s chest. The images of her home planet begin to fade, replaced instead by memories of that first movie night. She remembers sitting right next to Lena, their sides touching wordlessly. She remembers singing at the top of her lungs with the music blasting so loud they could’ve had a noise complaint filed against them. She remembers Winn and Barry singing “The Other Side” as a theatrical duet. She remembers waltzing to “Tightrope,” and the sound of Lena’s laugh as they kept bumping into the others around them.

With her baritone in her left hand, Kara reaches for Lena’s free hand without thinking. Her fingers snake their way between ivory ones, and Lena doesn’t hesitate to tighten her grip. She doesn’t ask why. She doesn’t even make a face. Instead, she simply squeezes Kara’s hand as they wait for Jones to call them to set. Finally, Kara’s heartrate begins to return to normal, and she can breathe again.

This time, as they run through the show and sing, home means a little more. A little different. Home will always mean Krypton. Home will always mean Eliza and Jeremiah. Home will always mean Kal. Home will always mean Midvale, and Alex, and their little group of found family.

Now, Kara realizes, home will always mean Lena Luthor, too.

* * *

 

They get to go home an hour earlier than usual, much to Kara’s delight. She hasn’t taken her bracelet off since the second rehearsal, meaning she’s beginning to feel the accumulation of sleep deprivation. Where her usual five hours got her by no problem without the bracelet, she needs upwards of eight to recover from rehearsals and schoolwork each night. She’s lucky to get six, because she can never quite get her mind to slow down enough to let her drift off at a decent time.

As they all go out to their respective cars, coats pulled up to their ears to protect against the icy winds, Kara’s eyes begin to feel heavy. She’s glad Alex is driving, because she’s not sure she’d trust herself to drive home. 

“You,” Lena begins, stepping into the space between the passenger side of Alex’s Charger and the driver’s side of her own silver Mercedes, “look like you’re about to crash.”

Kara chuckles and leans back against Alex’s car, nodding. “Lack of sleep will do that.”

“Been there,” Lena says, sighing. “Nothing like finishing an essay the night before it’s due.”

Kara laughs louder now, easily relating. She “works best under pressure,” she says, though Alex calls her out on her procrastination. Still, she manages good grades even if they are pulled out at three in the morning.

Alex gets into the driver’s side after kissing Sam goodbye, and Kara feels her start the car. She’s grateful, because she wants the heat going as soon as possible. The wind nearly stings the soft skin of her cheeks and nose.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Kara,” Lena says. She steps forward, shortening the distance between the two of them as she does so. Kara pushes herself off of the car so that she’s standing upright, and suddenly they’re only a foot or so apart. Their eyes meet, and Kara feels her heart flutter at the specks of gold that she’s just now noticing in Lena’s eyes. 

They stay that way for a couple of moments, Kara holding her breath all the while. Finally, albeit almost reluctantly, Kara leans forward and envelops Lena into a tight hug, wrapping her arms as closely around the brunette as she can. Lena immediately reciprocates and buries her face into Kara’s neck, something she’s gotten into a habit of lately. That same recurring rush fills Kara’s chest, and she holds Lena even tighter. She feels the urge to press her lips against the cool skin of Lena’s temple, just centimeters away.

She ponders the idea for a moment, her heart racing all the while. Lena seems to sense this. She pulls back just slightly, her arms still wrapped around Kara’s middle while she pulls her head back to meet Kara’s eyes again. Their faces are just inches apart, and Kara can feel the heat of Lena’s breath on her lips. She swallows hard, willing her eyes to remain locked on Lena’s.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Lena,” Kara finally says, her voice hoarse. She tells herself it’s from the singing.

Lena smiles, that warm, soft smile that Kara loves, and reluctantly releases her grip around Kara’s torso. Kara feels like she can’t move from her spot as Lena gets into her car and pulls out. She watches as the brunette drives cautiously out of the parking lot, wary of the slightly icy roads.

For a moment, Kara simply stands there, the wind whipping at her cheeks. Her heart still races, and she nearly feels… faint. Her chest feels tight, but not like it did during practice. This is different.

Finally, she opens the passenger door and slips inside the car, greeted thankfully by warm air coming out of the vents. She leans back and closes her eyes, not saying a word as she waits for Alex to pull out of the spot and head home. 

After a few moments without movement, Kara cracks one eye and turns toward her sister. Alex looks at her with gentle but knowing eyes, a tiny grin on her face.

“You okay?” she asks quietly, leaning her head against the headrest. Kara takes a deep breath and holds it for a moment before letting it out in a rush. She pushes her glasses up against the bridge of the nose, though they’re already up as far as they’ll go. With a frustrated sigh, she opts instead to take them off and fold them up. She slips them into the cupholder and looks over at her sister.

“I don’t know what’s happening,” Kara admits. “It’s… it’s good! I know it’s good, but I just… I don’t -”

Alex cuts off Kara’s rambling, pressing a finger to her sister’s lips. Kara relaxes her shoulders, which had been crawling up to her ears in her anxious explanation, and lets out a heavy sigh. Her eyes fall shut for a moment again, and Alex pulls her finger away.

“I can’t tell you for sure what’s happening but I have an idea,” Alex says, her voice dropping to that low and soothing tone reserved only for her and Sam. Kara feels fingers intertwine with her own, and she opens her eyes to meet her sister’s. They begin to burn against her will as she tries to process, but she blinks the feeling away.

“I know it’s scary and different,” Alex continues. “You remember how much of a mess I was.”

Kara offers a small chuckle, recalling the nights they spent talking as Alex tried to figure out what was going on, and why that one flute player wouldn’t get out of her mind.

“I love you. Eliza loves you. If Dad were here, he’d love you still too,” Alex promises. The mention of Jeremiah brings the stinging back to Kara’s eyes, and this time, she can’t blink it away fast enough. Tears begin to well, but she tries not to let them fall.

When they inevitably do, Alex is there, her thumb swiping across Kara’s cheek to wipe them away. Kara leans into Alex’s touch, and Alex seems to understand as she lets her hand remain there. Kara’s eyes fall closed as she takes deep, steadying breaths, grounding herself in the warmth of her sister’s hand on her cheek. 

It takes a few minutes, but she finally finds her stability again. She hadn’t expected the night to end this way to say the least.

Alex leans over the center console and presses a kiss to Kara’s cheek, bringing a genuine, relaxed smile to Kara’s face again. Without another word, they put on some quiet music and leave the parking lot, now barren as everyone else has left already. The whole way home, Alex doesn’t let go of Kara’s hand. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've all been there, Kara.


	5. Chapter 5

Winter competition season for Midvale is just half as long as the fall marching season, meaning that there are only four competitions, finals included. The Midvale Indoor Winds perform every other weekend for the months of January and February, starting on January 5th and ending on February 16th. It’s a short season, lasting only about three months in total, but it’s exactly what they need to carry them over to the next marching season beginning in May. Lena appreciates the break of a few months between seasons, as it allows her to look forward to the marching season without feeling overworked. Absence truly does make the heart grow fonder in her scenario.

The two weeks since they finished drill have practically flown by. Though they technically only had six rehearsals in those two weeks, Lena feels like they hardly ever took a break. Any free time during actual concert band was spent perfecting Indoor Winds music. Extra time between hanging out after classes and the beginning of rehearsal was spent in a practice room with her newfound group of friends, hashing out any trouble spots they can find. Homework almost feels like an afterthought, leaving Lena up doing her homework after she returned home from rehearsals most nights. 

Tonight, however, is a different story. It’s the Friday night before their first competition, and they of course don’t have a rehearsal scheduled that evening. Their group of eight is at the Danvers residence. It’s a beautiful home away from the main parts of town, surrounded by hills and water everywhere you look. It’s half the size of Lena’s, but it feels fuller than her house ever has. The eight of them have decided to stay at the Danvers house for the evening and carpool to the school in the morning. It’s the first time Lena’s ever been to a sleepover since she was a toddler, and it took her nearly two days to convince her mother to let her go.

They sit in a circle in the living room, their textbooks, laptops, pencils, and paper strewn haphazardly across the hardwood floor. It’s only just nearing 4:30, but Lena feels like they’ve been working on homework for hours. She stares down at her history essay and watches the little line in her word processor blink as it had for the last five minutes. It’s not that she struggles in school in even the slightest, but sometimes, she seems to hit a wall where productivity comes to screeching halt. She quickly saves the document and closes her laptop, then leans back against the couch. Without a word, James pats her shoulder sympathetically from his seat next to her. He seems to understand her frustration as he stares down at his own essay, only two sentences longer than it was ten minutes ago. 

Kara returns from the kitchen, a glass of chocolate milk and a donut in hand, and sits in the empty space next to Lena where she’d been sitting ten minutes before. Barry follows close behind and joins Oliver on the smaller couch adjacent to them, receiving an eye roll from the other boy. Lena chuckles, because of course Kara’s and Barry’s idea of a study break involves an immediate snack of pure sugar. The blonde pushes the donut in Lena’s direction and raises an eyebrow, her mouth too full of other snacks for her to verbalize her question. Usually Lena would try to avoid stress eating, but today, she takes a bite of the chocolate donut graciously.

“Lena, you’re a genius, right?” Sam says suddenly. Alex sits in the recliner above her reading a book for English, and Sam leans back against the chair between her legs. Lena glances down at her lap and sees a math book open, paired with a worksheet that’s been erased several times over.

“I’m pretty sure she could get hired at NASA right now if she wanted to,” Winn says from his spot on next to James. He’s reading the same book as Alex, but it’s currently covering his face as he leans back against the couch cushions, exasperated. 

Lena feels her face begin to heat up at the sudden unexpected compliment, and she clears her throat as she focuses her attention on Sam. 

“I know my way around equations fairly well,” she says. Next to her, Kara mutters “fairly well” sarcastically under her breath, earning her an elbow to the side. Kara snickers through her mouth full of milk, unapologetic.

“I know it’s probably simple once I get it, but this stupid sin and tangent shit is driving me insane,” Sam groans. Lena grins at her friend’s frustrated cursing and walks over to where she’s sitting. She sits crosslegged next to Sam, grateful that she’d changed into her yoga pants and sweatshirt instead of staying in her dress, and glances over the worksheet.

They manage to get through the majority of their homework for the weekend in the next hour, and they figure that they’ll use Sunday to catch up. When 5:30 rolls around and Mrs. Danvers calls the eight of them into the dining room for dinner, no one hesitates to leave their homework behind. Even Lena admits that she’s quite hungry, and whatever Mrs. Danvers had been cooking smells amazing. 

On the table is a large serving pot full of spaghetti with tomato sauce, and there’s two loaves of garlic bread and nine chicken breasts on either side of it. Alex and Kara, who had been called into the kitchen five minutes before, come out with plates and silverware and a platter of roasted vegetables. Lena’s mouth waters at the home-cooked meal in front of her. Sure, Lillian could cook, and they even occasionally ate their meals together. Before Lena has even taken the first bite, however, this feels different. 

They work together to set the table, then dish out their servings onto the beautiful ceramic plates. 

“Thank you for this meal, Mrs. Danvers,” Lena says, realizing that she hasn’t even thanked the woman for allowing her into her home, let alone a home-cooked meal. “It looks absolutely delicious.”

“She is literally the best cook ever,” Barry says. “Joe does his best, but there’s nothing like Danvers home cooking.”

Mrs. Danvers chuckles and waves Barry away as they all sit down. Kara immediately takes the seat right next to Lena, an excited smile on her face all the while. Lena swears she sees Mrs. Danvers’ eyes flicker with curiosity for a moment before she answers Lena’s thanks.

“Mrs. Danvers is too formal,” she says, waving her off the same way she did with Barry. “Please, call me Eliza.”

Lena can’t help the rush of joy in her chest as she nods. “Eliza it is, then.”

While meals in the Luthor home were usually either silent or strictly business conversations, meals at the Danvers home are far different. People laugh out loud, make jokes, talk with their mouths full despite Eliza’s motherly glare, and live in the moment with the people around them. Kara laughs so hard she nearly spits garlic bread all over the table, but Alex clamps a hand over her mouth to avoid that. Even the relationship between Kara and Alex as siblings is so different than what Lena knows. She feels as if she’s been missing out on what a real family is for her entire life. The realization is bittersweet; she feels like she’s finally at home in the Danvers household, but the Luthor house feels more and more like nothing but a place to sleep. The thought leads panic to rise in Lena’s chest, but she pushes it down in favor of enjoying the moment with her newfound friends. 

The meal comes to a close around 6:30, and they work together to put leftovers away and clean things up. Everyone jumps in to help as if it were their own home and their own chores, and somehow, Lena gets put on table-cleaning duty with Oliver. One moment she’s standing awkwardly in the corner as everyone around her settles into a familiar routine, and the next she has a wet dishrag in her hand and Kara’s pointing at the dining room table. 

“You’re part of this family now, so you get stuck with chores, too,” Kara says, the last piece of garlic bread in her free hand. She shoves the whole thing in her mouth unabashedly before heading back into the kitchen where Eliza is beckoning for her. 

There’s not much to do in terms of cleaning the table, so she and Oliver clean in silence. As Oliver runs one last swipe of the towel over the table to ensure it’s dry, he catches Lena’s gaze. Wordlessly, he nods toward the empty living room. Lena raises an eyebrow, but follows anyway.

“I’ll make this short and sweet,” he says quietly once they’re out of earshot from the rest of the group. Lena feels her heartrate pick up as her mind begins to race, wondering what he’s about to say. 

“You’re awesome, and I like having you around,” he begins. Lena’s panic begins to ebb, and curiosity replaces it as she ponders where he’s going with this. 

“But if you hurt Kara, I’ll make sure you regret it.”

Lena opens her mouth as if to say something, but nothing comes out save for a few unintelligible squeaks. Oliver bites back a grin and pats Lena’s shoulder, almost out of pity.

“I see the way you look at her. She’s got the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever met. Just don’t break it, and you and I are good.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Lena manages, her mouth finally catching up with her brain. 

Oliver’s face softens immediately, and he allows a small smile to tug at his lips. He throws an arm around Lena’s shoulder unexpectedly and guides them toward the dining room, that easy smile never faltering.

“You’re really good at the whole intimidation thing,” Lena mutters, willing her heart to slow down. Oliver chuckles and releases her as they reach the dining room. The others are again in earshot, so he says nothing. He simply winks and gestures for her to enter the kitchen. With a small smile, Lena follows his lead and walks in.

* * *

 

Some half an hour later, every blanket and pillow in the house is downstairs in the living room, various spaces on the couches, chairs, sleeping bags, and air mattress claimed for the evening. James and Winn share the larger couch, their heads and feet at opposite ends. It’s a tight squeeze, but something about the way they arrange themselves tells Lena that they’ve done this a time or two. Alex and Sam, with Eliza’s permission, take the full-size mattress in the middle of the floor. Barry and Oliver put down sleeping bags in the space between the air mattress and the smaller couch, leaving Lena and Kara to decide between the smaller couch and the recliner. 

“You should take the recliner,” Kara says, throwing a pillow and a fuzzy blue blanket in Lena’s direction. Lena catches the pillow, but the blanket falls in a heap at her bare feet. She leans over and picks up the blanket, immediately noticing how soft it is. 

“Any particular reason?” she replies, already placing the blanket and pillow in the faux leather recliner. She has to admit, it did look comfortable when Alex sank into it a few hours before. 

“Most comfortable place in the whole living room,” Kara confirms, grinning as she sets herself up on the small couch. She’s a tiny bit taller than Lena, so she really ought to be the one in the recliner, but Lena doesn’t attempt to protest. She simply returns Kara’s smile and takes a seat in the recliner, and she finds herself wondering if there’s room enough for two. She shakes the thought from her head and instead turns her attention to the television, where Sam is already pulling up Netflix.

“Movie votes?”

Lena laughs aloud as several different voices overlap, the names of movies she’s vaguely familiar with all being suggested at once. She doesn’t find herself watching movies very often and decides to go with whatever her friends choose. She’s not preoccupied with the movie choice as it is; the deck has been calling her name since they arrived earlier in the afternoon, and she’s not had a chance to slip out to see it yet. She hopes that no one will question her absence as she quietly slips out of the recliner and heads toward the deck doors, the fuzzy blanket Kara gave her wrapped tightly around her shoulders.

The evening air is brisk, but the blanket fends it off for the most part. Lena gently lets the deck doors click shut behind her as she pulls the blanket closer to her. 

The moon is high in the sky, full and bright. It illuminates the scenery around her; frosted trees with icicles hanging from them, fresh and untouched snow; the lake, frozen and still. It is quiet and serene, and Lena feels a sense of peace that rarely comes along. She leans on the deck’s rail, too enamored with the view to care about the cold that bites at her nose and cheeks.

She’s outside for no more than five minutes before she hears the doors open quietly, then slip shut. An arm wraps around Lena’s shoulders, and she feels an extra layer of warmth as body heat is trapped beneath the second blanket. Lena lets out a slow sigh and drinks in the warmth, not wanting to admit how cold she is.

“What are you doing out here in the cold?” Kara asks quietly, rubbing her hands up and down Lena’s arms. The blonde radiates heat despite the bitter air, and Lena wonders how she isn’t cold. Still, she allows her ministrations to continue as they warm her goosebump-covered skin. 

“It’s beautiful out here,” Lena replies, her voice hardly above a whisper so as not to disturb the silence of the night. “Never seen anything like it.”

Kara hums in response and rests her head against Lena’s. 

“It never gets old,” she agrees. “I sit out here all time, even when it’s freezing, just for the view.”

“I would too,” Lena says, chuckling softly. 

They don’t speak for a while after that, instead sitting in a comfortable silence as they stare out into the vast landscape. Lena watches as two squirrels chase each other up and down a tree, their tiny feet leaving tracks in the snow as they run off into the foliage. She giggles to herself at the sound of their chittering.

As she comes back to herself, she’s suddenly aware that Kara is shaking ever so slightly.

“Are you cold?” Lena asks, turning to look at the blonde for the first time. She’s taken slightly aback when Kara is already looking at her, too, her face turned toward her. 

All of the sudden, they’re just inches apart. Lena can feel the warmth of Kara’s breath on her own lips. It’s intoxicating, and she feels herself drawing closer before she can stop herself. Inches become centimeters, and both their breaths shudder as their lips brush against each other, a whisper of… something. Lena isn’t quite ready to think the word until she’s sure Kara feels the same.

Suddenly, Kara starts to pull back, and Lena lets go immediately. She practically jumps backward, her heart thudding in her chest. 

_ I’ve done it. She’s going to hate me now. _

“Gosh, Lena, I’m - I’m so sorry, I -”

“It’s okay Kara,” Lena whispers, fighting off the sadness that claws at her chest. Of course Kara doesn’t feel the same way. It was foolish of her to assume anything differently, and now she’s ruined a perfectly good friendship. 

“No! No it’s not, I… I just jumped you almost and I don’t… God, I don’t know what’s happening…”

Lena feels her eyes begin to burn, but she doesn’t speak. She stands there listening as Kara stumbles through her words, struggling to string a sentence together.

“I’ve never felt this way before,” she finally says. “About… a….”

“Luthor?” Lena offers, scoffing.

“A girl,” Kara finally admits, her shoulders sagging as she lets out a breath she seems to have been holding the whole night. “You… you caught me by surprise.”

Kara takes a deep breath and fiddles with her glasses, not meeting Lena’s eyes yet. There’s a crinkle at the bridge of her nose, the same one she gets when she’s concentrating on something. Her free hand crosses in front of her body, almost as a security blanket. 

In a moment of bravery, Lena steps forward, once again closing the distance between them. Kara doesn’t look up yet, but Lena sees the way she takes slow, deep breaths. She pushes her glasses against her face for the nth time.

Hesitantly, Lena reaches her left hand up and gently guides Kara’s chin upward so that their eyes meet. 

When they do, Kara stares at her, lips parted, in what Lena can only describe as awe. For the first time, Lena notices the specks of silver in Kara’s ocean blue eyes. She notices the scar near her eyebrow, and the barely-there freckles that sprinkle across her cheeks. She notices a thousand more things to admire in the girl in front of her, and she can’t take the distance anymore. Without letting herself think about it too much, she gently leans forward, capturing Kara’s lips in her own. 

Kara responds immediately, leaning into the kiss as she reaches up to cup Lena’s cheek. They pull back for only a second, out of need for air, then surge forward again, bodies pressed flush against each other. The air no longer feels so cold, and all Lena can feel is the warmth of Kara’s skin, Kara’s lips, against her own.

They finally part, practically gasping for air as they lean against each other’s foreheads. Lena’s heart is beating at a million miles a minute, and Kara’s shaking harder now than before. Lena reaches down and takes the blonde’s hand into her own, squeezing it tight as their fingers intertwine. 

Slowly but surely, their breathing slows, and their heartrates seem to return to normal. All the while, they lean against each other, listening to the slowing flow of breath. 

“Was that okay?” Lena asks softly. Kara cracks a smile, and Lena feels weight lifting off of her shoulders at the sight.

“That was amazing,” Kara whispers back against Lena’s lips. She leans up and captures them once more, albeit quicker than before. Lena smiles now, a real one that reaches her eyes. She presses her lips to the tip of Kara’s frigid nose.

As if by unspoken understanding, they don’t go inside just yet. Instead, they wrap themselves in the blankets and return their gazes to the beautiful horizon, drinking in its beauty in silence. Lena lets her head rest against Kara’s shoulder as she watches the trees sway in the gentle winter wind.

* * *

 

Alex switches to her mug of hot chocolate to her left hand and holds out her right expectantly. Next to her, Eliza sighs and places a crumpled five dollar bill in her daughter’s outstretched hand. They lean against the kitchen counter and look out the deck door windows, where Kara and Lena are cuddled together. They’d seen the whole kiss, and Alex grins smugly as she takes her won bet money.

“I told you. I TOLD you.”

Eliza chuckles and sips her own hot chocolate, still steaming.

“Yes, you did. But now we’re just being creepy.”

As if on cue, Kara and Lena begin to turn around. Alex and Eliza scurry out of the kitchen and into the living room hurriedly, hoping they hadn’t been caught. 

As Alex sits down with Sam on the air mattress, the beginnings of a Disney movie playing on the television, she swears she sees Sam’s knowing smile out of the corner of her eye. She doesn’t say a word as Lena and Kara walk in moments later and plop onto the couch, shakily asking what movie they’re watching.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Sorry for the wait on this chapter, I started college again. Also, I apologize if this isn't exactly great... I've been writing this bit by bit when I can, usually very late at night. I've also been getting more into Legends of Tomorrow during the Supergirl hiatus, so I've been spending a lot of time binging Avalance content. Regardless, I hope you enjoy!

Kara wakes with a sudden jolt, acutely aware that something has startled her out of her slumber. She sits up immediately without thinking, searching for the source. Alex’s snickering as she heads toward her room upstairs is all Kara needs to know. She looks down at the ground next to the couch and sees a throw pillow next to her. With a grumble, Kara pulls herself out of bed, mentally cursing Alex out for using the term “throw pillow” literally. 

As per usual, she’s among the last of the group to wake up. The time on the cable box reads a few minutes after eight in the morning, and Kara sighs. Much as she loves competition days, she despises having to wake up before 10 o’clock on a Saturday morning. Winn and Oliver groan as their counterparts attempt to wake them up. Kara chuckles to herself as she walks past them toward the recliner. 

She’s surprised to find Lena still asleep, curled into a ball beneath the blue fuzzy blanket she’d been covered with all night. Her hair is a disheveled mess, and it falls messily in front of her face. Still, Kara doesn’t have it in her heart to wake her just yet. She looks so serene in her sleep, her face relaxed and void of the anxiety that commonly resides there. 

When James and Barry finally pull Oliver and Winn out of their slumber and head upstairs to change into competition day clothes, Kara decides it’s time to wake Lena. She reaches her hand out toward the sleeping girl’s shoulder prepared to shake it as Alex typically does to her, but she stops. Another idea comes to mind, one considerably more pleasant than being shaken awake. She quickly glances up to ensure that neither her mother nor her friends are around.

Once she deems the coast clear, Kara gently pushes the stray hair out of Lena’s face, revealing her slightly parted lips. Lena stirs ever so slightly, her eyebrows furrowing in sleepy frustration, and Kara bites her lip as a swell of adoration rushes into her chest. Carefully, Kara leans down and presses her lips to Lena’s, relishing in the softness she’s met with.

It takes a few gentle kisses, but eventually Lena kisses back with a content hum as she wakes. Kara places one more kiss to Lena’s lips and pulls back to allow her to stretch. When she’s worked out the kinks, Lena smiles sleepily up at Kara.

“Well that’s not a bad way to wake up,” she says quietly, her voice lower than usual. Kara’s heart flutters at the sound, and she bites the inside of her cheek to calm her butterflies. 

“Not bad at all,” Kara agrees, grinning back. Almost reluctantly, she steps back so that Lena can stand up. While Kara wouldn’t mind staying with her for another few hours, just like this, they do have a competition to go to. 

They trudge upstairs to Alex’s room, where she and Sam are in various states of undress. Alex wears a pair of black boxer briefs and a tight sports bra as she rummages through her drawers, searching for her under-uniform clothes. Sam has her spandex pants and sports bra on, but she rifles through Alex’s closet, presumably in an attempt to find an article of clothing she left there before. Lena ducks her head respectfully as she heads toward her overnight bag, haphazardly thrown onto Alex’s bed the night before. Kara chuckles and shakes her head as she grabs the wad of clothes she’d left in Alex’s room. 

“What are you laughing at?” Lena asks, but there’s a lightness in her voice that reassures Kara that she knows it’s all in good fun.

“We’re juniors. We’ve been changing together for three years and you still do your damndest not to look,” Kara says as she tugs her shirt over her head. She doesn’t miss the way Lena’s eyes linger on her midsection, and she’d be lying if she said she didn’t flex a little bit on purpose.

“There’s no such thing as privacy in band,” Alex chimes in, finally pulling on her clothes. Sam seems to have found her shirt, as she too is now fully clothed, nodding in agreement. In less than a minute, Lena and Kara are also changed. The four of them head downstairs, where the boys will surely be waiting and complaining about how long they take to get ready.

* * *

 

Two hours of eating, loading up the trailer, and boarding the bus later, they’re finally on their way to their first competition. They’re headed to Central City High School, where they’re set to compete against nine other groups in their class. The one that Kara’s most concerned about in terms of competition is the Star City Legends. The Legends are their biggest rivals during the marching season, and though this is their first year doing Indoor Winds in the winter, Kara has no doubt that they’ll be as magnificent inside as they are out. For a brief moment, Kara wonders what kind of show they’ll be putting out.

It’s only about an hour drive from Midvale to Central City, so Kara doesn’t even bother attempting to go back to sleep. She knows she’ll only wake up from her nap grumpy if she does, and no one needs that. She leans on Lena’s shoulder and pulls out her phone, deciding instead to watch an episode of her current favorite TV show that she’d downloaded onto her phone the night before. Lena wraps her arm around Kara and stares out the window, a small, content smile on her face. 

She’s only five minutes into the show when a loud crackling sound suddenly blares over the bus’s speakers. Kara and Lena both jolt at the sudden sound, sitting upright in the seat to see who the offender is. 

Kara’s annoyance soon fades to joy as she sees Winn and Barry standing in the front seat of the bus, an aux cord plugged into Winn’s phone. She already knows what he’s pulling up before he even hits play, and the rest of the bus seems to have noticed as well. Even Lena, who’s usually wearing noise-cancelling headphones and buried in some book she’s brought along, seems to pick up on what’s happening.

“Are you actually going to join in on the fun this year?” Kara chides, nudging Lena in the ribs. Lena snorts and rolls her eyes, a small smile tugging at her lips. She gives an almost imperceptible nod, and Kara squeals in delight. Even at movie night, she didn’t get to see Lena loosen up very much, and she’s excited to see what Lena’s like when she’s singing at the top of her lungs.

“Let’s get this party STARTED!” Winn calls out over the chatter of the bus. He’s met with cheers in return as he presses play, an ear-to-ear grin on his face as he does so. 

Kara hears the harsh, rigidly accentuated orchestral opening and immediately recognizes the first song on the playlist. Cheers of approval scatter throughout the bus. Even Sam and Oliver, not as up to speed on musical theatre, let out whoops of excitement as the track begins. 

“How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a   
Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten   
Spot in the Caribbean by Providence, impoverished, in squalor   
Grow up to be a hero and a scholar?”

Kara grins as she continues with the rap section, not missing the way Lena’s eyebrows rise in surprise at her. She takes pride in the fact that she knows every single word of this song, and she doesn’t hesitate to put her all into it, letting her theatricality shine through. While Lena only knows a few words, she still chimes in when she can, albeit with less enthusiasm than Kara. It still makes her smile to see Lena let loose, no longer worrying about what anyone else is thinking.

They sing for practically the entire bus ride to the performance site, going through songs from Hamilton, Phantom of the Opera, RENT, Wicked, and other classic go-to’s. Kara knows every word of every song Winn plays, and she’s not at all ashamed of it. It surprises Kara when she realizes that Lena actually knows a fair bit of the music as well, especially “Defying Gravity” and “Seasons of Love.” While they are fairly common, Kara still didn’t picture Lena to be the type that would know musicals. Still, singing manages to pass the hour ride faster than they realize. Their throats are hoarse, and Kara hopes that water will help that. They do still have to sing for their show, after all.

The time leading up to the show is a blur. Kara only vaguely registers everything she’s doing as first-competition nerves begin to set in. Putting on uniforms and heading into warmups flies by and before she knows it, they’re standing in line waiting for the group before them to finish. Of the ten groups in their class, they’re second to last. The Legends, the group Kara was most interested in seeing, are right after them. Kara hopes Director Jones will let them stay and listen after they move their stuff out of the gym. With there being a half hour break between the Legends and the next class of performances, she figures leaving their stuff in the hallway out of the way of other groups won’t be too much of an issue. 

Kara blocks out the sound of the other band still performing, her fingers tightening around her baritone as she suddenly feels weak in the knees. She takes deep, slow breaths to center herself, reminding herself that it’s only week one, and it doesn’t mean anything. Even if she screws up, it’ll be fine. And that solo? It’ll… it’ll be fine. Nothing to worry about.

She repeats these words like a mantra in her head until they begin to lose meaning. Moments before they’re about to head into the gym, she feels a strong, warm hand on her lower back. Oliver stands behind her, his trombone in one hand as his other hand stays on Kara’s back.

“Breathe, kid,” he whispers, barely audible to anyone who isn’t listening. Kara reaches behind her and places her hand over Oliver’s in thanks. He runs his thumb across her palm for just a moment, then moves his hand away. Jones is walking up and down the line, that familiar determined look in his eyes that’s always there before a show.

As the gym offers applause for the group before them, an Arkadia Marching Woodsmen, Jones smiles. Kara knows what’s coming, and it helps to ease her nerves. 

“Suit up, Stallions!”

Sounds of agreement ripple through the band, and Kara feels the tension begin to leave her body as excitement replaces it. Several people ahead in the line, Lena turns around to meet Kara’s eyes. 

For a moment, it’s just her. The world around them goes quiet, and all Kara can see is emerald eyes, speaking a thousand words. Lena gives a small nod, and it’s all Kara needs. Kara simply winks back, a smile tugging at her lips. She swears she sees Lena’s cheeks turning red as she turns around, just in time to catch the line moving forward. Kara hangs onto the surge of confidence she feels at the realization, knowing she’ll need it for the show.

It takes a few seconds longer than Kara would have liked, but they finally get set up and into their first set. 

“Here from the small town of Midvale, please welcome the Midvale Stallions and their performance, The Greatest Show!”

Kara takes a deep breath, willing the tremor in her hands to go away, and instead tunes into the sound of Alex’s soft clicks on the rim of her drum. The countoff ends as soon as it begins, and suddenly, the show is in motion.

It goes better than Kara expected it to go. Sure, there’s shaky parts where the visuals aren’t tight or the music doesn’t line up perfectly. The solos are mostly tremorous from everyone, herself included. The singing is loud, but doesn’t hold the power she knows Jones wants. Still, they sound good and they’re clean for the most part. For a first competition, Kara will take it. The loud applause and half standing ovation certainly doesn’t hurt. As she stands there, baritone at her sides and heart still pounding from the exertion of the show, she allows herself a small smile of pride. From the corner of her eye, she catches the same smile on Lena’s face; imperceptible to an audience member, but visible to those on the floor.

Alex gives a loud click to the rim of the snare, signaling that they need to get off the gym floor. Getting things out into the hallway goes much better than getting onto the floor did, and for that Kara is grateful. She’s still shaking from the show itself, and she isn’t sure she could’ve handled the extra stress of being close to a penalty for going overtime. 

Once they have everything out into the hallway while the Legends are setting up, Director Jones stops them.

“First, I want to congratulate you on a magnificent show,” he says, voice loud enough that they can hear him but not loud enough to disturb the people in the gym. “We know where we can improve, but for the first week, that was a hell of a performance.”

Kara grins as she feels fingers slip into her own, and Lena stands next to her, slightly sweaty, but smiling all the same at Jones’ compliment. Kara doesn’t miss the way her eyes flicker with something deeper than appreciation at the compliment; the validation and praise means far more to her than for the rest of them. Kara squeezes Lena’s hand wordlessly and presses a chaste kiss to her temple. 

“Second, if you want to watch the Legends, go ahead leave your instruments out here and go up to the second level and watch, but come back down as soon as they’re done so we can get everything put away. If you don’t want to watch, please help move things to the semi that way we can get done quicker. Sound good?”

Before Jones finishes talking, people are already putting their instruments down and dashing for the stairs to the second level of the gym. Spectators aren’t permitted to sit in the top section, as it is reserved for students only. They make it to the top just in time for the announcement, opting to lean against the railing rather than sit on the bleachers. Kara’s eyes scan the ensemble for any faces she might recognize from marching band, but she comes up empty.

The second the Legends begin to play, Kara knows exactly what their show theme is. She almost laughs out loud as she realizes they’re also doing a show based on a musical, but she can’t complain. RENT is one of her favorite musicals of all time, and they’re playing the opening number magnificently. 

A minute or so into the show, Alex taps Kara’s shoulder and motions for her to lean closer.

“Now that I can talk to you about girls,” she begins, eliciting a bashful giggle from Kara, “look at the center snare and the only girl trombone on the line.”

Kara’s eyes scan the ensemble, struggling to identify who Alex is talking about as they move quickly to the pace of the song. 

“Who are you -” she begins, struggling to find the people Alex is referring to.

But then she does.

_ Oh. _

That’s what Alex is talking about.

“What are you two whispering about?” Sam asks, an eyebrow raised. Lena soon follows suit, playfully glaring at Kara and Alex. Kara grins sheepishly, knowing they’d been caught, and looks down. 

The ensemble transitions into a ballad that Kara recognizes as “Will I,” one of her favorite songs from the entire musical. Luckily, that means the majority of the band is in holds while soloists perform the main lines. 

“Do you um… do you look at the people in bands and see if there’s any attractive ones?” Kara asks Lena, her voice hushed so as not to be noticed during the quiet ballad. Lena smirks, and Kara knows her answer before she hears it.

“I’d never touch, but that doesn’t mean I don’t look,” she teases. “I appreciate a good looking person when I see one.”

“Good,” Alex begins, leaning in front of Kara so she can see Lena’s face. “Center snare girl and trombone girl. You’re welcome.”

The whole band is dressed in some form of the attire worn by the characters in RENT, ranging from cheesy sweaters that Mark wears to the lawyer-esque suits that Joanne typicalls dons. Both the snare and trombone, however, are clad in tight leather pants and white tank tops. Kara immediately recognizes them as Maureen’s outfits. Kara mentally thanks their director, the one and only Rip Hunter, for choosing those outfits for them because  _ oh sweet God,  _ they are attractive. Both of them have well-defined muscles in their arms and shoulders, only accentuated by their instruments of choice. They have their hair styled so that it falls in waves over their shoulder, both dirty blonde in color. Kara feels her throat go dry at the sight.

To her amusement, her sister, Sam, and Lena are in no better shape. She turns her head just in time to see Lena’s eyes widen and her jaw drop slightly, and Kara has to cover her mouth to hide the chuckle bubbling from her lips. She turns over to Sam, who has the same dumbstruck expression Alex and Lena share. She can’t blame them at all. Kara’s slowly learning what she finds attractive in women, and apparently muscles are on the list. 

The four of them unabashedly ogle for the rest of the show, and Kara loves the way she doesn’t feel insecure. She knows that Lena doesn’t really have eyes for anyone else, and she’s grateful not to have to deal with the jealousy that usually comes with looking at someone else who’s attractive. 

When the show comes to a close, they too receive loud applause and standing ovations. Alex whistles as she claps, and even Lena whoops in approval. The snare and trombone are standing right next to each other in the final set, both of them with ear to ear grins on their faces. 

Suddenly, the snare reaches over and links her pinky with the trombonist’s, and before Kara can point it out, Alex is already slapping her shoulder excitedly.

“Did you see that?! That’s gay,” she says, and Lena lets out a loud laugh in response. Not wanting to disobey Jones’ request for them to return to help put things away, they reluctantly tear themselves away from the Legends and head toward the semi. Kara is surprised to find everything but their instruments gone from the hallway, with a freshman whose name Kara can’t remember guarding the instruments. She offers her thanks to the young girl and picks up her baritone.

It only takes a few minutes to finish loading everything up, and Kara is ready to finally get out of their uniforms. Much as she loves the way they look like circus master outfits, complete with top hats for the boys, they are incredibly hot. 

They make their way to their homeroom, a classroom that’s been rearranged to give more space to change in, and finally get out of the uniforms. Kara debates putting on sweats, but she’s far too warm. She decides instead to slip on a pair of basketball shorts and her favorite Stallions t-shirt. Lena, Alex, Sam, and most of the other girls in the band seem to have the same idea. She knows they’ll all be freezing later, but for now, it’s too hot to try to think ahead. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, after all, if she had to cuddle close to Lena. You know, for body heat. 

They head out to the semi to load up their uniforms, and Kara notices the edge of an “L” sticking out on the semi parked next to theirs. 

“Is that….?” Alex begins, stepping backward a bit so she can see the rest of the word. Sure enough, the Legends’ semi is parked directly next to theirs, and the band is beginning to come outside. Kara watches as the front ensemble makes their way out first, followed by the band. As if by unspoken agreement, she, Alex, Lena, and Sam stand and wait for the two girls to come out.

They’re the last to come outside into the cool night air. The taller of the two, the trombonist, is pushing the tarp cart. The snare sits on top of the tarp, leaning backward onto the handle of the cart as she keeps a hold on the snare drum and the trombone. The taller one is pretending to struggle to push the cart, and the snare player is laughing loudly. It’s carefree and blissful, and they look at each other like there’s no one else in the world. Kara grins as she feels a familiar rush of affection fill her chest. As if reading her mind, Lena slips her fingers into hers and presses a kiss to Kara’s shoulder. Kara’s smile grows as she turns and kisses the top of Lena’s head.

“That’s the cutest shit I’ve ever seen,” Sam says, voicing Kara’s thoughts. Alex feigns offense, to which Sam hurriedly says ‘other than you.’ Kara pretends to gag, and she earns a slap on the arm. A cheeky grin returns to her lips as Alex curls into Sam’s side. 

Most of the Stallions have already headed inside, but the four of them stay outside. Kara means it when she says she isn’t ready to go inside yet; she’s still slightly sweaty and her skin feels hot from being in the uniforms, and though the night air is easily only in the mid-thirties, she wants to cool down before going into the heated building. Still flushed and shiny-skinned, the other three agree, opting to sit on the bench near their semi. It’s a tight squeeze with the four of them, but they manage.

“So...what do you guys think? You think we took home a good score?” Sam asks. Kara sighs and pauses before she speaks. She’s happy with the show, more than happy, but she knows that it just didn’t have that… “spark,” she supposes. It felt more like playing notes and moving than performing a show. She chalks it up to first show nerves, knowing they’ll eventually get the meaning to shine through like Jones wants.

“I’m betting on a 70,” Lena offers, glancing over at Sam. Alex shrugs and nods her head, seemingly deciding that it was a good a guess as anyone’s. Alex had never been too wrapped up in numbers and placings. She always touted the idea that how it feels is the most important, and Kara has tried to adopt the ideology herself. Still, she can’t help the competitive edge she gets when she’s listening to awards being announced. She hopes Lena’s prediction of a 70 is correct, because that should hopefully get them into the top half of the group. Today, that’s all she’s asking for. They continue discussing the show for a few minutes, all but forgetting that they’re sitting out in the cold.

“You guys had that Greatest Showman show, right?”

Kara jumps at the sudden unfamiliar voice, and she spins her head to see the source. She must look like a fool the way she gazes up at the very two girls they’d just been ogling over from the Legends. They’re still dressed in their uniforms, and  _ wow,  _ they’re even more muscular up close.

Alex is the first one to break out of the trance.

“Yeah...yeah, that’s us,” she says, still stumbling over her words. “RENT, right?”

“Yeah. We heard you guys while we were waiting to go on, and holy shit,” the shorter girl - the snare player - says, her eyes widening. Kara chuckles, ducking her head at the praise. When she looks back up, the taller girl is holding two thumbs up.

“You guys sounded awesome,” she says. Her voice is deeper than the short girl’s.

“You guys did too. That finale with all of the songs together at once was incredible,” Lena offers, sitting up straighter. Both the girls grin ear to ear, and Kara grins back at them. 

“Sara Lance,” the shorter girl says, holding out a hand to Sam. Sam stands, and the rest of them follow suit. They each shake hands and introduce themselves. The taller girl introduces herself as Ava Sharpe. When they finish with introductions, Sara settles easily into Ava’s side, and Ava seems to instinctively wrap an arm around her and pull her closer. The height difference between them is almost comical, and Kara bites her lip so as not to smile at the sight.

“You guys want to sit together? Aves and I were the babies of our friend group, so most of our friends are graduated,” Sara explains. 

“You’re not putting on more comfortable clothes?” Sam questions. “Leather pants don’t sound all that comfortable.”

Ava lifts up the hem of her white tank-top to reveal that they’re pull on’s, almost like jeggings. As she does so, she reveals a toned midsection, the bottom of a six-pack on full display. Kara chuckles as she sees Sara’s brain short-circuit for a moment at the sight. She’s finally beginning to understand the term “useless lesbian” and “useless bisexuals.” 

“Well alright then,” Lena says, breaking the silence. She gestures toward the double doors leading into the building. The cool air has sufficiently cooled Kara’s skin, and goosebumps replace the sweat that was there before. She’s ready to go inside and warm up.

Ava and Sara lead the way, hands clasped together as they head inside. Alex and Sam follow, leaving Kara and Lena at the back. As they all walk together, hand in hand with their partners, Kara feels a weight lifting off of her shoulders that she didn’t even realize was still there. Her feelings for Lena came on strongly and suddenly, and she hadn’t been sure how to keep up with them. Romantic feelings for girls was supposed to be Alex’s thing, and she wasn’t sure how to handle it now that she felt the same. Walking together, laughing and talking and sharing bits of affection as they move, Kara finally begins to feel like this is okay, that this is normal, and that she doesn’t need to be afraid.

* * *

 

The rest of the night flies by much faster than Kara would like. While they do try to pay attention during the shows, majority of the time is spent talking to Sara and Ava. Given that they only had about two hours to talk before awards, they learn quite a lot. Sara is a junior and Ava is a senior, and they’ve been together for nearly a year. They met through band, of course, and Kara laughs when she learns that they absolutely hated each other at first. Sara thought Ava was stuck up and cocky, and Ava thought Sara was generally just an insensitive asshole. Kara chuckles at the fact that they’re the embodiment of an enemies to lovers romcom. Seeing them interact now, she can’t imagine them ever hating each other. Sara looks at Ava like she put the stars in the sky, and Ava does just the same. It’s almost disgustingly cute, but it fills her with hope. 

Awards are a shock to both the Legends and the Stallions, who take first and second place respectively. Kara isn’t even upset when the Stallions take second, because the Legends earned first without a doubt. The Legends score a 75, with the Stallions close behind at a 73.5. It’s better than they could’ve hoped for, and Kara doesn’t feel an ounce of disappointment. Judging by the way Lena won’t stop smiling as they head toward the busses, she isn’t the slightest bit upset, either.

When it’s time for Ava and Sara to head to their busses, the six of them pause halfway between. It’s gotten considerably colder outside since they’d last been out, and all of them shiver against the frigid air. Even Kara, with the highest tolerance to cold in their group, is cold to the bone within minutes of being outside.

“Here,” Sara says, pulling out her phone. Her fingers move slowly, likely already numb. She shoves the phone in Kara’s direction, a note titled “Stallions Gays Numbers” on the screen. She snorts as she takes the phone and types in her phone number, then passes it down the line. 

“We’ll text you in a bit so you have our numbers too,” Ava says. “I know we’re all freezing but congratulations you guys!”

“Danvers, Arias, Luthor, let’s go!” Jones calls suddenly over the sound of busses starting and semis pulling out of the parking lot. Almost immediately afterward, Kara hears a distinct “Sharpe! Lance!” called over the noise. 

“Congratulations to you guys too!” Alex says as they begin to turn away, waving as they go. Kara gets a sense that the two hot girls from the Legends are going to be their friends before they know it, and she doesn’t mind at all.

They load onto the bus quickly, grateful when they’re greeted with hot air blowing out of the heaters. Kara is glad she and Lena chose a seat right by one of the heaters, because while she’s warming up some, Lena is still shaking like a leaf. Kara swears she can hear her teeth chattering. As they walk down the middle aisle and toward their seats, she rubs her hands up and down Lena’s arms, attempting to warm them.

Begrudgingly, Kara begins to grab her stuff out of their seat. Jones has a rule against couples sitting next to each other in the dark. She understands the rule, but that doesn’t mean she particularly wants to follow it. Still, knowing Lena isn’t likely to share that sentiment, she transfers some of her stuff to the empty seat across the aisle. 

Suddenly, frigid fingers wrap around Kara’s wrist, stopping her. In the dim light, she sees Lena looking up at her, a look in her eyes that Kara can’t quite read. 

“Stay?” she asks quietly. It’s so soft and gentle that Kara melts immediately at the sound, and even if she wanted to follow Jones’ rule, she wouldn’t be able to. Not with Lena looking at her and asking her to stay like  _ that. _

“Lena Luthor,” she begins as she gathers her things and returns them to the seat. “Breaking rules? Who are you?”

Lena snorts in response and Kara can feel the eye roll, even though she can’t see it. She’s no sooner settled into the seat before Lena nudges her way into her arms, throwing the blue fuzzy blanket she’d had in the morning over the both of them. Kara is grateful that the seats surrounding them are all inhabited by her friends. They definitely notice, but they don’t say a word. Even Alex simply grins and shakes her head before slipping into Sam’s seat in front of them.

“If we go down, we go down together,” she says, just loud enough for Kara and Lena to hear. Kara chuckles and nods. Alex winks at the two of them and settles into the seat, undoubtedly curling up with Sam. She likes to pretend that she’s the dominant one, the one who’s always holding Sam, but Kara knows better. Her sister is a complete cuddle monster when she’s tired, and she will stop at nothing to get Sam to hold her until she falls asleep. 

The bus sets into motion a few minutes later, and Kara leans her head back against the seat as her eyes fall shut. Lena’s breathing is already beginning to slow, and a small, sleepy smile tugs at Kara’s lips. The bus is nearly silent, the only sound being soft chatter and quiet music playing over the speakers. While not many would find riding a school bus peaceful, Kara finds that the rides home are almost serene. She takes a long, slow breath and lets it out through her nose, feeling the exhaustion of the day finally settle on her.

She’s at the edge of falling asleep when Lena’s voice reverberates against her chest.

“Will you be my girlfriend?”

Kara’s heart flutters immediately at the words, and she has to remind herself to breathe. She hadn’t wanted to push the girlfriend card yet, partially because it was all so new to her and partially because she didn’t want to risk scaring Lena away. 

Now, though, she wonders how she managed to wait all these weeks to even kiss her, because there is nothing she wants more than to be Lena’s girlfriend. To be hers.

“As long as you’ll be mine,” Kara replies, her voice unexpectedly thick with emotion. Lena seems to sense it, because she responds only by pressing a soft kiss to the exposed part of Kara’s collarbone. Kara leans down and presses her lips to the top of Lena’s head, letting them linger for a moment or two. Her heart is full and warmth spreads everywhere in her body. It’s new and different, but it’s amazing. Kara stays that way, head resting on Lena’s as she holds the brunette as close as she can, until Lena’s breathing evens out and she snores softly. Only then does Kara lean her head back and close her eyes, a new kind of happiness lulling her into a peaceful sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am a SUCKER for sick-fic. Enjoy :)

No sooner is the first competition finished before the second one is in the books. The week between the two flies by, and three hour rehearsals feel like minutes. Quick as they seemed, they must’ve done something right in that time, because their score increases by three points at the second competition in Star City, at the Legends’ own school. It’s not quite enough to put them past the Legends, but the gap is reduced to a half point difference. Jones and Hunter both insist that the difference in score could have easily been reversed, and Kara gets a sense that the Stallions and the Legends are going to be neck-and-neck the entire season. Still, that rivalry doesn’t change the budding friendship forming between the Stallions friend group and Sara and Ava - so much so, in fact, that the two of them join the Stallions in a post-competition sleepover. 

It’s the morning following the competition, and Kara immediately notices that something feels off. She hasn’t even opened her eyes yet, but the light streaming in through the window of the living room already feels too bright. She tries to take a breath in through her nose, but she’s met with resistance. She instead opts to take a breath through her mouth. The sudden rush of air alerts her to the stinging, raw feeling in her throat, and she groans as she swallows. 

Well, this is new.

Kara tries to remember the last time she was sick, but she comes up empty. For as long as she’s worn her bracelet for extended periods of time, she’s managed to avoid catching any human viruses. (Given how awful she’s seen Alex feel, she considers herself lucky). Today, however, it seems her luck has run out. 

Thinking back, she should’ve seen it coming. It’s been going around the band, both in and out of the winter ensembles. Barry and Winn were the first to catch it on Tuesday, and Alex was soon to follow. Until now, the rest of their friend group had managed to come out unscathed.

From her spot in the recliner next to Kara, Lena stirs awake, her brow furrowing. She immediately brings a hand up to cover her eyes. Kara turns to look at her girlfriend, and she immediately notices the pallor of her skin. 

She too tries to breathe in through her nose to no avail. As she sighs and resorts to breathing through her mouth, she slumps against Kara, groaning. Despite how crappy Kara feels, she still manages a smile at the way Lena pouts her lips. She leans down and presses her lips to Lena’s forehead, grimacing when she feels the heat of her skin.

For a moment, Kara considers taking off her bracelet. She’d most likely heal twice as fast if her powers weren’t dampened. Sunlight always cured any injury in half the time, and Kara figures the same can be said for illnesses, too. 

Though she feels like death, she decides to keep the bracelet on and simply ride it out. Sickness, while one of the less fun parts, is indeed a part of being human. In the strangest way, it’s comforting to experience something so uniquely human. The divide that she normally feels, that slight alienation, is nowhere to be found as she sniffles along with her girlfriend. If her friends don’t feel well, she doesn’t want to see them suffer alone.

“What time is it?”

Kara almost doesn’t recognize the croaky voice she hears. It seems like it’s an octave deeper than it normally is, and it’s barely audible. Kara cranes her head toward the source, and she sees Sara and Ava on the second air mattress. Ava is still asleep, her hair a fluffy mess half-hidden by the blanket pulled over her shoulders. Sara faces the opposite direction with her back pressed against Ava’s. Her hair is also a mess, splayed over her shoulders and face in disheveled strands. Through the mess of hair, Kara sees Sara’s scrunched, slightly pale face. 

“Time for medicine, apparently,” comes another familiar voice, this one sounding much healthier than Sara’s. Oliver sits up from the couch, where he and Barry swapped the sleeping bags for the couch with James and Winn. Barry is still asleep on the opposite end of the couch, his mouth hanging open comically. Kara can’t help the smile that tugs at her lips at the sight, and she looks over to Oliver. His eyes are bloodshot and dark, but he doesn’t look sick. He just looks as though he went to bed at 4 in the morning (which they most definitely did).

“I’m fine,” Sara grumbles, moving slowly as she sits up so as not to wake Ava. Kara hears Ava scoff, apparently already awake. The taller blonde rolls over and raises an eyebrow at her girlfriend.

“Not looking like that you’re not,” Ava says, her voice sounding as healthy as Oliver’s. Kara is glad to see that at least some of them made it out unscathed. As James finally sits up from the sleeping bag, he too appears to be one of the healthy ones. 

Sara glares at Ava, muttering a “thanks, jerk,” before finally standing up. Kara begrudgingly nudges Lena out of her arms and motions for her to lay back in the recliner. Without much protest, Lena complies, her eyes remaining shut as she leans backward. Kara stands, suddenly aware of the slight shakiness in her legs, and heads toward the kitchen. She hears footsteps padding behind her, then a gentle, strong hand on her back. She stops, turning over her shoulder to see Oliver, James, and a barely-awake Sam with their eyebrows raised.

“What?” Kara croaks, trying her hardest not to cringe at the way her throat stings when she speaks. 

“Kara Danvers,” Sam says incredulously, a tiny, sympathetic smile on her lips. “Are you sick?”

“I’m fine,” Kara whispers, but she admits it’s not very convincing. James reaches up and places his hand on her forehead, and Kara sighs at how cool it feels against her own feverish skin. He tsks as he lowers his hand, that same sympathetic smile forming on his lips. 

“Kara Danvers sick,” Oliver teases. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

Kara rolls her eyes and starts to turn back toward the kitchen, but she’s quickly stopped by a hand on her wrist. Oliver gently pulls her backward, then turns her toward the living room.

“Go rest, we’ll get the medicine,” Oliver says. Kara opens her mouth to protest that she’s  _ fine,  _ she’s just a little achy and her throat hurts and she can’t breathe, but she is perfectly capable of getting medicine for the rest of her sick friends. Oliver is having none of it as he presses a finger to his lips, then nods toward the living room. Kara sighs and mutters a “fine,” and Oliver smiles, pressing a quick kiss to Kara’s burning forehead. If Alex is her adopted sister, Oliver is the closest thing she’s ever had to an adopted brother. Making sure her friends can see her sulking, she walks back to the living room.

Everyone is awake now, each of them in various states of sickness or health. Barry and Winn seem to be mostly over their colds, left only sniffling but no longer grimacing every time they swallow. Alex isn’t quite there yet, but she doesn’t look as worn out as Kara, Lena, and Sara do. 

Alex is on her feet as soon as she sees Kara, seeming to immediately notice that Kara wasn’t feeling well. She hurries over and presses the back of her hand to Kara’s forehead, sighing as she worriedly scans the rest of Kara for signs of illness. Much to Kara’s dismay, her sister suddenly pries her mouth open and shines a phone light down her throat. Alex sighs again, apparently satisfied with her examination, and pushes a piece of stray hair out of Kara’s face.

She starts to reach for the bracelet on Kara’s wrist, but Kara stops her. Alex looks up at her, confused, and Kara offers a small smile.

“I’m okay, Alex,” she says. “You’ve been far sicker than this. This is just a cold. I’m okay.”

Alex looks like she wants to protest, opening her mouth as if to say something, but decides against it. She instead resigns herself to ordering Kara to lie back down while she goes to help the others get medicine. Knowing she won’t win this argument, Kara simply complies, carefully sliding back into the recliner with Lena. Still half asleep, Lena nuzzles her way into Kara’s arms again, then buries her face in the blonde’s neck.

“Alex reminds me of my sister,” Sara says quietly. Kara turns to face her, where she’s lying on her stomach as Ava rubs her back. “Laurel always freaks out when I’m sick.”

Kara chuckles, but her laugh quickly turns into a wet cough that rattles in her chest uncomfortably. Sara winces and stares at her apologetically, but Kara just sighs and waves her off. 

“It’s no big deal, I’m good,” she says, though the coughing made her throat burn even more. She feels Lena scoff against her collarbone, her breath hotter than usual.

“God, you’re stubborn,” she mutters, speaking for the first time since she’s woken up. Sara and Ava both giggle at that, and Kara playfully swats her girlfriend’s arm. 

“If memory serves me correctly, you literally puked in the middle of running laps and tried to keep going afterward our freshman year,” Kara teases. This time, she’s the one getting swatted on the arm. Ava and Sara laugh louder now, even when Sara winces at the feeling, and Kara thinks she hears Ava mention something about that sounding familiar.

“I was just dehydrated, I wasn’t dying,” Lena insists. “I just needed to drink some water and I was fine.”

Kara rolls her eyes and presses her lips to Lena’s hot forehead, sighing as she shakes her head. 

A few moments later, the calvary returns from the kitchen with plastic water bottles, cough drops, numbing throat spray, and liquid cold medicine. Lena and Sara both turn their nose up at the sight of the liquid, and Kara gets a sense it isn’t going to taste very good.

“We’re out of pills, so we’re just gonna have to deal,” Alex says. Oliver and James hold out small medicine cups as Sam passes out water bottles. Alex fills each of the cups about halfway full with a gross looking red liquid, and Kara sighs as they all reluctantly take the medicine from Alex. Alex herself has a cup, apparently not feeling well enough to forgo it like Barry and Winn.

“Shots shots shots!” Winn teases, earning a grin from the sick girls all staring at the medicine in disgust. Alex sticks her tongue out at the boy, but Kara sees the grin she bites back. 

Sara raises her medicine cup in the air like a shot glass.

“Cheers.”

With that, they all throw their heads back and down the liquid in one gulp. For a moment, Kara doesn’t taste anything, and she figures it wasn’t as bad as her friends were making it out to be.

Then, the awful chemically taste and the burning in her throat hits full force, and she groans as she hurriedly opens her water bottle. Sara is already chugging the water by the time Kara takes a sip, and Lena shakes her head as if to rid herself of the taste.

“Oh my God, that was so awful,” Kara chokes out, shuddering as she takes another chug of water. It doesn’t completely take away the flavor, but it helps to dull it. Alex shoves a strawberry cough drop into her hand, and Kara shoves it into her mouth as fast as she can.

“How was it?” Ava teases as Sara grimaces, still trying to get the taste out of her own mouth. She graciously accepts Alex’s cough drop and pops it into her mouth.

“I’d rather chug an entire bottle of scotch than do that again,” Sara grumbles. Ava grins and rubs her girlfriend’s back comfortingly.

“Too bad you’ll have to take more in about four hours.”

All eyes turn toward the staircase, where Eliza is descending the steps. She’s far more put together than the rest of them; her hair is brushed, and Kara’s fairly certain she’s even wearing a little bit of makeup too. She’s clad in a plain blue v-neck and loose grey yoga pants, one of her favorite lounging outfits of all time. She smiles that same sympathetic smile that Kara had received from Oliver, James, and Sam earlier. She meets Kara’s eyes and immediately knows, just like Alex had, but she seems to understand why Kara hasn’t taken the bracelet off.

“Good morning Mrs. Danvers,” Ava says, sitting up on the air mattress. She combs her fingers through her unruly hair in an attempt to tame it, but it doesn’t do much. Eliza smiles and waves her hand, and Kara knows what’s coming before Eliza speaks.

“None of that Mrs. Danvers stuff in this house,” she says, confirming Kara’s suspicions. “Call me Eliza.”

Ava and Sara grin and nod as Eliza makes her way around the mess of sleeping arrangements, heading toward the kitchen.

“Seeing as it’s about noon, how about I get some soup going? Chicken and noodle?” she suggests, on hand resting on the archway between the living room and dining room. 

Several “yes please” and “thank you” responses resound throughout the living room, and at that, Eliza heads into the kitchen to start making the lunch. Kara smiles at the glance Sara and Ava share, seemingly grateful for the hospitality who has only just met them the day before. 

Suddenly, the familiar sound of the television starting up plays through the television’s speakers, and Kara turns toward the source. She hadn’t noticed that Sam was crouched in front of the TV, setting up for what appeared to be a movie day. Kara admits that there’s not much else they can do but watch TV for the day; even video games, much as she loves them, feel like they’ll require too much focus for her sick brain to handle. 

After a few minutes of bickering as they decide what to watch, Ava and Sara just as much a part as the others, they finally decide on a cheesy romcom that Kara doesn’t quite catch the name of. She doesn’t mind, though, because she hasn’t yet met a cheesy romcom that she doesn’t like. As the Universal Studios theme plays and they all try to sing along, their throats stinging as they continue anyway, Kara can’t help but grin. Perhaps being sick isn’t so bad when you’ve got friends with you to make it more bearable.

* * *

 

They end up all staying together until late that evening. Sara’s dad has a late shift at the precinct, and she doesn’t want to go home to an empty house since Laurel is away for college. Barry’s foster father Joe is working late as well, and they decide that’s enough reason to stay until around nine that evening. They don’t do much for the day. They watch two more movies on top of the romcom, a horror movie and “Edge of Tomorrow,” and everyone drools over Emily Blunt shamelessly. All they can eat is soft food, so the majority of their meals and snacks are composed of soup and PBJs, but Kara doesn’t mind. As far as food goes, those two options are actually pretty delicious, and she doesn’t have PBJs very often. They barely even move from their spots the whole day except to cycle through showers in both the upstairs and downstairs bathroom. Kara admittedly feels less gross after taking a cool shower, and everyone else seems to perk up a bit after their own showers.

By the time parents start showing up to take people home, most everyone is back to sleep. Sara is wrapped tightly around Ava, and the taller blonde reads on her phone as she runs her free hand up and down Sara’s back. James and Oliver have moved to the floor so that Winn and Barry can nap on the couch, facing opposite ends. Sam and Alex are both fast asleep, despite Sam being healthy. Kara and Lena are both awake, but barely so. They look drowsily out over their group of friends, small, sleepy smiles on both their faces.

By the time nine thirty rolls around, everyone is either picked up or driving themselves home. Ava carries Sara out to her car, and Kara makes sure to snap a picture for blackmail. Sara likes to pretend she’s tough, but she’s all mush on the inside. Joe picks Barry up, and Oliver offers rides to Winn and James. Both Alex and Kara whine when their girlfriends finally have to leave, but after a few kisses and promises to let them know they’re home safe, they finally watch as their loves drive off.

“We lucked out with these guys,” Alex says. Kara can hardly see in the moonlight, but she’s pretty sure her sister is smiling ear to ear. Kara smiles fondly back, watching as Lena’s tail lights disappear from view, and hums in agreement.

“We really did,” she affirms. Alex wraps an arm around her shoulders and presses a quick kiss to her temple, then leads them inside.


End file.
